A gym battle and some investigating! Interesting...by the way the gym battle will not be the same as the one in the show obviously. Alright then go ahead and read!
"Hey open up!" Ash urged banging on the door to the Sunyshore gym rapidly. Pikachu yawned on top of his master's head lazily watching Ash become increasingly impatient. "Come on Volkner!"
"Did we really have to come here at 7:00 A.M?" Dawn asked rubbing her tired eyes. Brock's head kept bobbing up and down as he shifted from being awake and being asleep. Reggie was the only one that seemed brisk.
"But he said we'd have our battle in the morning." Ash pointed out.
"Morning is anytime before noon; Volkner might not even be awake yet." Paul grumbled especially annoyed at being waked up so early. "We really couldn't have waited a couple of hours for you to lose."
"Ha, you wish!" Ash smirked confidently, "I'm going to win my eight badge today and will finally be eligible for the Sinnoh Championships."
"Yeah, yeah." Paul rolled his eyes. Suddenly the door that was previous shut tight started opening with a hiss. Ash's eyes brightened with excitement and rushed through the entrance before the door fully opened.
"I swear Ash; you're going to break something one of these days." Dawn called out to deaf ears; she sighed and followed the rest of the group. As they reached the reception desk Ash was unsuccessfully trying to talk to the computer secretary.
"I'm here for my battle with Volkner." Ash announced the computer was silent for a moment before responding.
"I'm sorry I could not process the information. Please repeat."
"I have a battle with-!"
"I'm sorry I could not process the information. Please repeat."
"I have a battle. With Volkner?" Ash repeated through gritted teeth. The computer went silent for a moment.
"Volkner the gym leader of Sunyshore, his specialty is electric types and-"
"I already know that, I want to battle him. I want to get a gym bad-"
"Alright Ash, I get the idea." Everyone looked up to see that Volkner had suddenly appeared. The young man glanced at the computer slightly annoyed before pressing a button on it apparently shutting it off. Volkner then shifted his gaze to the excited raven haired boy.
"You sure are an early riser."
"I'm excited for my gym badge." Ash stated simply smiling happily. Volkner sighed before glancing back up at the rest of the group.
"Are all of you going to watch?" he asked.
"It'll just be me, but only because you guys will need a referee." Brock interjected.
"The rest of us will be checking out the places you told us about yesterday." Reggie stated. "The Seal market and the warehouses."
"You did say we have two weeks, right?" Volkner asked making a sweeping glance at the group, "What's the rush?"
"The sooner we know where Hunter J could be the better prepared we can be." Paul said. Volkner met his gaze for a second before shrugging and turning the other direction.
"I suppose you're right." He admitted, "Listen if you guys find something don't go in alone. First of all you won't have a chance to beat them by yourself. And even if you manage to get away I would rather not give away the advantage of a surprise attack."
"No need to worry!" Dawn called out with her usual perkiness. Brock flinched at the sentence and turned to Ash who had the same skeptical look.
"We won't do anything stupid." Paul assured Volkner before swiveling back, heading towards the exit. Dawn waved brightly at the group ready to follow him.
"Good luck Ash, I know you'll do great!"
"Best of luck Ash!" Reggie patted Ash on the back before joining Dawn to track down Paul.
"Thanks guys!" Ash called back.
"Be careful!" Brock added before turning to his best friend. Ash waved him off before he could say anything.
"I know you're worried, but Reggie will make sure nothing happens." Ash turned to follow Volkner who had already left to the battlefield.
"Yeah I know." Brock sighed before elbowing Ash in the ribs, "I was worrying about you winning this match."
"Hey!"
***XXX***
"For some reason I thought you would want to go with Reggie." Paul glanced at Dawn who was merrily walking by his side. She turned to him surprised that he was starting a conversation for once.
"It is actually pretty simple why I didn't go with him." Dawn admitted sheepishly, "if I went to the Seal market then I would be too enamored with all the shopping opportunities that I'd be distracted from what I am supposed to do."
"Yeah, but you're stuck with me."
"It's not as bad as you might think." Dawn laughed. Paul stared at her curiously; he couldn't figure her out if he tried. Paul knew he was gruff and mean he wasn't oblivious to his personality. He didn't understand why Dawn still seemed to enjoy his company. Although there could be a simple reasoning, she was crazy. He sneaked another look at her. Dawn was looking the other way staring in awe at the city around her. That happy smile was fixed on her lips, and her eyes filled with bright curiosity. Paul used to think that the look was annoying, now not so much. Maybe he was the one going crazy. She was making him go crazy.
The pair stopped as they finally reached the warehouses perched next to the docks. Dawn's smile widened as she looked out on the ocean. "It's gorgeous." She whispered, Paul didn't respond but silently agreed to the sentiment. But as beautiful as the scene was it wasn't going to distract him that easily.
"Come on." Paul muttered Dawn quickly followed behind him. He stood at the front of the first warehouse peering in to see it was an empty one. Paul and Dawn stepped in carefully looking around; the only things that were in the warehouse were large wooden boxes. Paul walked up to one of them lifting open the box.
"Are you sure we should do that?" Dawn asked with concern but to no avail. Paul crouched down to reach into the box and curiously pulled out a poke ball. He looked back in; the box was filled with poke balls. Dawn reached for one herself, she looked at Paul.
"You don't think…" Paul pressed the release button on the ball to find that the ball was empty. Paul sighed as Dawn tried her poke ball to see that it was empty too.
"I think these are just extra poke ball shipments. Unless you want to check all of them?" Dawn questioned, Paul paused grabbing a few of them to check although he was pretty certain nothing was in them. Dawn rolled the poke ball in her hand for a moment absently opening the empty ball; she blinked for a moment something catching her eye. But Paul suddenly adverted her attention as he stood up abruptly.
"If any of these poke balls did have Pokémon in them then there would be some kind of protection around here for their investment." Paul informed glancing around the area to see if there was anything else. Dawn followed his lead dumping the poke ball back into the box.
"But if you think about it like that then won't the base have some kind of protection. I know that Volkner already said that the security cameras aren't a problem but shouldn't there be something." Dawn reasoned.
"Whatever it is, it won't be obvious. It can't be people or Pokémon because that would look too suspicious." Paul thought silently as both trainers left the warehouse. As they reached back outside he glanced around. "What could they use for security?" Dawn shrugged unable to think of anything. Paul sighed his gaze finally resting on the lighthouse that still looked big from so far away. The purple haired boy's eyes stared at the large building thinking to himself.
"It couldn't be…" he muttered narrowing his eyes.
"What?" Dawn asked glancing around to figure out what Paul was talking about. Paul stared uneasily at the lighthouse before grabbing Dawn's hand and pulling her back into the warehouse. Dawn watched him in bewilderment as Paul looked around with a hand firmly set on one of his poke balls.
"What is going on? Did you see someone?" Dawn looked around startled. Paul didn't answer and remained stiff until several minutes passed, finally sighing. "Paul." Dawn pressed.
"This might sound weird, but I think that they set up security by placing spies in the lighthouse."
"What?" Dawn seemed confused, "The lighthouse…"
"Remember what Volkner said? You can see the entire city from that lighthouse. It's the perfect spot."
"But you can't see people from all the way up there."
"There are those magnifying things all over the place. Besides all you need is a pair of binoculars to see everything." Dawn still frowned still unconvinced.
"Volkner practically lives up there. Don't you think he would notice if something weird was going on there."
"People have jobs at that lighthouse to watch out for incoming ships. They are supposed to use binoculars and magnifying tools. Besides the warehouses are right near the dock, no one would suspect them." Paul huffed waiting for Dawn to be convinced. She still looked unsure wincing at his expecting look.
"Alright, fine. You don't have to believe me. But we should stay out of sight of the lighthouse's view just in case." Paul rose up to scan the area before finding the quickest way to the next warehouse. Dawn was close behind him, concern on her face. Paul seemed too tense and was almost acting paranoid like he knew someone was watching them. It did sound silly, but Paul seemed to genuinely believe his theory. And even if she wasn't completely convinced, the idea left a unsettling feeling in the pit of his stomach. Dawn made a small, subtle glance at the towering lighthouse and shuddered softly.
***XXX***
"This doesn't look good." Brock muttered to himself watching the first two Pokémon the pair of trainers had sent out facing each other off.
Volkner stared side-ways at the wall completely bored. In front of him a gorgeous Luxray was easily dodging the futile attempts of Ash's Grotle to damage the electric type. Each razor leaf was swiftly avoided with elegant grace much to Ash's frustration. He got even more annoyed looking up to see his opponent yawn with complete disinterest. Fine, Ash snapped to himself angrily, he would make Volkner look.
"Grotle, Earthquake!" Ash commanded watching his Pokémon prepare for the powerful ground attack. Volkner barely passed a glance infuriating Ash, that is until Luxray pounced roughly against the battlefield sending the gleam eyed Pokémon leaping in the air. Ash watched in shock as Grotle was unable to hold out the Earthquake long enough for Luxray to come back down. Grotle looked tiredly back up as the electric type shook its tail with a cocky look.
"I hope for both our sakes that you have something up your sleeve." Volkner called out from the other side in a dull voice. Ash gritted his teeth trying to think of something, "No, fine then. Luxray signal beam."
The blue furred Pokémon opened its mouth at the command, a ball of energy forming quickly near its mouth. Luxray blasted the attack getting a direct hit on the slow moving grass type. Ash gaped in surprise as he waited desperately for Grotle to get up, slowly but surely the Pokémon rose back up. It wobbled slightly from the injuries but soon Grotle was able to stabilize itself.
"Determined." Volkner muttered carefully watching Grotle.
"Good Job Grotle!" Ash cried out with encouragement. He grinned brightly suddenly inspired by his Pokémon's determination to form a new strategy, "Stealth rock!" Several large rocks jutted out from the ground surrounding the electric type in a levitating circle. Volkner's eyes narrowed while Luxray glanced around at the pointed rocks.
"Now," Ash yelled brimming with excitement, "Giga drain!" Luxray was unable to avoid the attack with the rocks around the area, the electric type hissed in pain as its energy was rapidly being sucked away. When the attack ended Luxray flinched before looking up to see Grotle looking much better than a few seconds ago. The Pokémon didn't need its trainer's command to know what do, rushing forward with barred teeth. "Withdraw!" Ash hastily called out, sighing in relief when his Pokémon whipped back into its shell for protection against the crunch attack. Luxray slammed against the hard surface wincing from the contact.
"Crunch." Ash grinned, watching as Grotle popped back out snapping its teeth on Luxray's front limb. In a slick motion Luxray slammed its hind leg against Grotle's head causing the grass type to let go its clamped jaw. Scurrying back near its trainer Luxray glared back at Grotle with its sharp yellow eyes. Suddenly the grass type started glowing, everyone watched in surprise as the Pokémon grew larger and transformed into a powerful Torterra.
"You evolved!" Ash shouted with joy at his new Pokémon.
"Well," Volkner started interest peaking within him, "This should make things interesting." Unfortunately while Torterra had gotten much stronger through the evolution, his speed still hadn't improved much at all.
"Leaf Storm!" Ash called out.
"Jump on the rocks." Volkner commanded, Luxray easily leaped up carefully climbing onto the levitating rock. Torterra couldn't get the razor sharp leaves high enough to reach the electric type, "Signal beam." Another direct hit and the newly evolved Torterra was knocked out.
"Torterra!" Ash cried out before sighing and grabbing for his poke ball, "Nice try buddy."
"Hm, I wonder what his next Pokémon will be." Volkner thought to himself, he paused catching himself in his thoughts before frowning and turning the other direction. It had been a long time since he bothered caring about his opponent's Pokémon.
***XXX***
Reggie glanced around the seal market cautiously; the whole area was bustling with action. Lots of shopping, exchanging of items, chatter, and laughter. Reggie smiled softly as a group of children raced past him with grins on their faces and Pokémon happily in their hands. The look on his face hardened at the thought of criminal activity happening close by. But he hadn't found any solid evidence anywhere. He absently wondering whether Paul and Dawn had found anything, he almost hoped they didn't for their safety.
"Is there anything I can do for you, sir?" a friendly middle-aged man asked from behind a stall. Reggie looked at him slightly startled but smiled at the man anyway. He was quick to observe that from the sign above the stall that the man was selling poke balls.
"Oh, no. Thank-you though." Reggie politely replied, waving off the request.
"Well, is there anything else you are looking for?" the man asked, "Maybe I can point you in the right direction." Reggie considered the offer for a moment, his gaze drifted down to the poke balls the man was selling. He fingered one of them not finding anything particularly interesting about the standard issue poke balls.
"Hm...I'm looking for something that's a bit difficult to find." Reggie finally answered with a half-smile. He froze suddenly noticing a shadow cross the man's face.
"Is that so?" the man asked, his voice sounding odd suddenly. Reggie blinked at him carefully wondering if he was just imagining the suspicious tone. The man smiled, and the purple haired young man couldn't help but feel that this time the smile was on the creepy side.
"Are you sure I can't help you with anything?" the man asked again staring at him intently as if expecting a certain answer. Reggie stared back at him, silent for a few moments. He then smiled once again and lifted up the poke ball he had been holding.
"Having an extra poke ball wouldn't hurt." Reggie declared brightly, he reached into his pocket to hand over some money. The man initially seemed surprised but quickly recovered flashing another friendly smile before nodding and accepting the cash. Reggie thanked the man and turned to leave, pocketing the new poke ball away.
"Have a nice day, sir." the man called out sounding genuine. Reggie returned the pleasantry before trying to dissect the weird vibe he had felt from the man. Maybe it was nothing, he hadn't found anything else useful so Reggie wouldn't be surprised if he was unconsciously making things more suspicious then they actually were. But still...
***XXX***
Paul sighed closing another package of packed potions, it didn't seem like they were getting anywhere. The warehouses that they had been searching were only filled with boxes filled with some random store items. Most of them were filled with empty poke balls. So far they hadn't found anything significant. Paul could only hope that Reggie had found something worthwhile.
"Dawn?" Paul suddenly called out but was met with silence. He jumped up from his position and looked around where he last saw her. "Where did you go?" he asked loudly.
"Down here!" came a faint voice. Paul whipped around sensing the voice came from behind some of the large boxes in the corner of the warehouse. As he ran over he saw a hole in the ground hidden at first from view by the stacked up boxes. Paul leaned over carefully to clearly see Dawn rubbing her head in pain. She blinked looking up at his shocked face. "Well are you just going to stand there?"
Paul shook his head and sent her a short glare before looking around his surrounding area. Dawn frowned as she saw him walk away from her limited seeing range. "Hey!" she shouted but was apparently ignored.
She scowled lightly before suspiciously observing the hole which she fell from. It was a clean square cut meaning the hole was already there. Dawn glanced around the room she'd fallen into, whatever this place was it was supposed to stay hidden. She was cut off from her thoughts when a rope was suddenly tossed down from up above. Dawn was about to reach for it to climb up but suddenly Paul came into view and slid down to meet her.
"I'm glad you got down here so comfortably." Dawn commented when his feet touched the ground. Paul smirked at her icy remark before looking around the room they got into.
"A hideout?" he asked. Dawn turned to him after leaning in to see one of the boxes filled with poke balls.
"Looks like it." Dawn responded before pausing to look at him, "Do you think this place is connected to Hunter J?"
"Maybe." Paul considered, checking the boxes in the room before turning to the door. "But you heard Volkner; he said that there are lots of criminal organizations with bases of operations here. It could belong to any of them." Paul headed towards the door carefully trying to keep as quite as possible.
"Wait, shouldn't we go back?" Dawn asked making Paul hesitate, "Volkner said that if we found anything that we shouldn't go in alone. It's too dangerous."
"We don't even know what we found yet." Paul said, "I'll just look around, that way we'll have a decent report to give everyone else. You stay here, I'll be back soon."
"Are you crazy? You're starting to sound as stupidly irrational as Ash." Dawn scolded with angry whispers," You're going go headfirst somewhere that is potentially dangerous, and by yourself too! What's wrong with you?"
"It'll just be a quick look." Paul growled, "It isn't any different from you going into Hunter J's ship to release those Pokémon."
"Then why can't I come with you?" Paul sighed dropping his head at the simple question. Honestly, it was because he didn't want anything to happen to her. But he wasn't going to admit that directly. He turned to her with a sharp glare but she met his intense look equally.
"You'll slow me down."
"Not as much as you think."
"Is that so?"
"Happens to be a fact."
"So you want to do?"
"It seems like you are set on going off to explore this place, and if you're going to do something that dumb then I'm coming to make sure you don't screw up and get yourself caught." Dawn stated firmly, Paul stared at her incredibly. She really had grown a big head after all this time.
"Fine." He mumbled, "Just don't wander off." He turned back towards the door and opened it slightly peeking into what looked like a hallway. Paul suddenly felt Dawn trying to get a look as well and quickly kicked her away with a scowl. Dawn was barely able to prevent the squeak that was about to escape her lips causing her to knock over one of the boxes and dropping some of her Pokémon balls. She pouted from the ground and kicked Paul in return.
"Quit it!" He whispered harshly. Dawn turned around to collect her dropped poke balls while at the same time arguing in harsh whispers with Paul. Their squabble was interrupted as footsteps were suddenly heard coming from down the hall. Paul quickly held the door open to observe who it could be. Dawn quickly shoved the rest of the red and white balls in her bag so she could join him. His vision was blocked by a grey uniform, he blinked at the familiarity.
"How long do you think we have to stay down here?" a grumpy voice called out with annoyance. "It's like living in a cave, nothing to do but stare at each other."
"From what I heard Volkner's on to the fact that we have a base here." A bored voice responded, "We can't leave till his suspicions are lifted."
"With our luck he'll find a new electrical project to work on." The two people chuckled at this causing Paul to frown. Dawn shifted next to him to hear as well. "Rumor is that electric-nut is too caught up in the cities renovations that he hasn't noticed that Hunter J chick has created a base here." At this Paul and Dawn stiffened, giving each other the same knowing look.
"Her organization usually keeps things under wraps, where did you hear that?"
"Nothing else to do down here but gossip, it's trending all over the black market about her new base here."
"Really where is it?" Paul held his breath waiting anxiously for the answer to the question that was on his own mind. But to his undying bad luck the pair of men outside of the room had their conversation halted.
"What are you two doing here?" yelled out a harsh voice. Paul cursed silently straining to get a better look at who had interrupted.
"Just scanning the area sir!" came a stiff response.
"For what, a spy." The obviously superior man scoffed, "There is a meeting soon. As both of you know Jupiter is making a visit here and we need to make the proper preparations. Now get moving!" Paul watched as the grey uniform quickly rushed away. He then kept silent making sure that no one else was still in the hallway before shutting the door. Paul leaned against the door deep in thought.
"Jupiter," Dawn trailed off thinking, "Sorry, but Paul I think that's one of the leaders of Team Galactic."
"Not surprising," he sighed gazing up at the ceiling, "Crime syndicates gossiping about each other like their friendly neighbors. That's just great; this just makes things so much more complicated."
"Why do you say that?" Dawn asked.
"Why do you think?" Paul responded, "We can't just leave these guys here doing all their dirty work. As soon as Volkner hears about this he'll have to attack this place. And as soon as Hunter J hears about Volkner staring to sweep out criminals in Sunyshore she'll race out of here without looking back."
"Well, then we'll root out Hunter J first and…"
"Then Team Galactic will escape, both of them are dangerous. I don't think anyone can afford to let either get away." Paul sighed and pushed off from the wall. "We'll figure this out with everyone else. We should leave before they figure out we're here"
Paul headed for the rope still dangling from the hole. Dawn stared warily behind her before hearing Paul's grunt to gain her attention. She looked back up to see him motion towards the rope for her to go first. "You go first, that way when you fall I'll catch you before you make enough noise to let everyone know our presence."
"Gee, I'm glad you care." Dawn sarcastically responded before heading towards the rope. She gripped it tightly and started climbing but paused after barely inching up. Dawn glared down at Paul who sent her a questionable look.
"What are you waiting for?"
"Just…" she hesitated as her face reddened before continuing, "Don't look."
His eyebrows rose questionably before Dawn reached out to pull down her skirt. Paul's eyes widened in understanding and he whipped around facing the other direction his face heating up fast. Dawn caught a glimpse at his flustered appearance and stifled a giggle before continuing up the rope.
***XXX***
Volkner looked momentarily startled seeing his team's powerhouse, Electivire, knocked out in front of him. The gym leader looked up still unbelieving to see a severely injured Aipom. Logically, there was no way that monkey Pokémon would have been able to defeat his Luxray and his Electivire back to back. The purple normal type was completely exhausted, and yet it stood up firmly waiting for its next opponent. Volkner quietly recalled Electivire muttering comforting words once the Pokémon was safely in its poke ball. He sent a glance back at Ash before grabbing a poke ball he wasn't planning on using at all. But this kid deserved a proper battle.
Raichu was sent out with a surprised look, the Pokémon blinked twice looking around. It had been awhile since Raichu had been in a battle. The Pokémon sent a wary look back at Volkner who simply grinned. The Pokémon's eyes gleamed seeing the old, familiar look in its master's eyes. With a confident grin the Pokémon sent out an array of sparks indicating it was ready to battle.
"Raichu, thunderbolt." That was the only command needed, Aipom didn't have a chance. Ash recalled the Pokémon, unable to commend Aipom enough for the enormous effort he had put through. Ash looked back up at the charged up Raichu; he didn't need to call out for his next Pokémon. Pikachu was already standing in front of his trainer ready to battle.
Brock was staring at the intense battle with wide eyes, he couldn't believe how evenly matched the two electric types were. It was obvious that Raichu was stronger, Brock observed watching Pikachu grimace from the damage of its opponents sudden iron tail attack. However Pikachu was much faster, the yellow mouse Pokémon dashed forward with a quick attack that Raichu hadn't seen coming. But unlike Ash's battle with Lt. Surge, Volkner's Raichu was much faster lessening the advantage Ash Pikachu had.
But more than that Brock noticed a change in Volkner's demeanor. Unlike the first two matches where he didn't seem too interested, the gym leader was now glowing with excitement. Ash was certainly the right opponent for Volkner right now.
"Wow, this is certainly an exciting battle." Brock turned away from the battle towards the voice.
"Reggie?"
"Hey Brock, so they're each down to their last Pokémon then." Reggie asked sitting next to the breeder, he stared up at the battle with interest.
"Yeah, it looked like Ash was going to get away with it easily but Volkner got back in it. It's defiantly been one of the more exciting gym battles I've seen." Brock commented before blinking and turning back to Reggie, "Where are Paul and Dawn?"
"I was about to ask the same thing." Reggie turned back to Brock confused, "I checked the Seal market but didn't find anything worth mentioning. Paul and Dawn were supposed to check some of the warehouses near the dock. They aren't back yet?"
"No, you don't think that…" Brock trailed off worried, Reggie mirrored his look. Their attention was diverted at the explosion in the middle of battlefield. Ash and Volkner stared intensely in front of them waiting for the dust to clear out. When it did Pikachu and Raichu were still standing both severely injured.
"Well, look who is still kicking." Volkner grinned at the unexpected scene in front of him. Ash couldn't have been more pumped. "Well kid, I think it's time for the finishing touch. It's time to end this."
"I agree." Ash smirked flicking the edge of his cap eagerly. The two electric Pokémon standing across from each other looked poised ready for their master's command.
"Volt tackle!" both trainers commanded at once. Instantly two balls of light shined brightly on opposite sides of the field before rushing to meet each other on a head on collision. Once the two collided the bright flash of light blinded all the people in the gym. Volkner and Ash covered their eyes in the nap of their elbows too close to even attempt a glance while Reggie and Brock squinted trying to keep their eyes opened. A few moments later the huge ball of blinding light exploded and everyone could see the two Pokémon get blown away in the other directions.
When Volkner and Ash finally got a good look they saw both of their electric Pokémon each lying in front of them struggling to move. With looks of equal determination Pikachu and Raichu tried rising up, both slowly taking a standing position. Volkner managed to gain Ash's gaze and the two trainers couldn't help but feel a surge of respect for the other. Unbeknownst to them their Pokémon were sharing a similar gaze. The next few moments crawled by in front of Reggie and Brock until finally one of the electric Pokémon fell.
"Raichu has fainted. Pikachu is the winner. The challenger Ash Ketchum has beaten the gym leader!"
"YEAH!" Ash yelled running forward to grab Pikachu, the raven haired trainer smiled cradling his starter Pokémon with care, "Are you okay Pikachu?"
"Cha!" Pikachu replied weakly but happily. Ash hugged the Pokémon gratefully.
"That was fun, don't you think?" Volkner asked his Raichu with a light chuckle. "It's been a long time seen I've been that excited battling..."
"Raii.." his Pokémon trailed off before getting an affectionate head rub from his trainer.
"You were great. Take a nice long rest, you deserve it." With that Volkner returned the Pokémon and glanced back at Ash, a smirk on his features at the boy obviously thrilled about his win. He reached in for the gym badges he had kept in his pocket, Volkner stared at silently for a moment.
"Hey Ash," he called out catching the attention of the bright brown eyes. He tossed the badge casually to the boy watching him catch with curiosity. Ash looked down at it in his hands before breaking out in a huge grin and showing it to Pikachu.
"And Ash." Volkner added suddenly, a serious look on his face appeared for a split second before he flashed the young trainer a grin, "Thanks."
"Thanks to you too." Ash tightened his fist against the metal pendant with excitement, "I'm going to the league championships!" Ash shouted twirling around with Pikachu clinging to his shoulder good-naturedly. Brock grinned at his best friend, proud and happy that he finally managed to get his last gym badge. He turned to Reggie expecting a similar look only to see the older boy starring with concern at the door off to the side. Reggie lifted his gaze once he felt Brock's and the two shared a worried look.
I hope no one is upset that I practically skipped half gym battle, the general gist is obvious. Ash gets a gym badge; Volkner gets excited about battling again. For anyone wary about Volkner's lack of a personality, we will be seeing a jumpstart in that next chapter. Oh and Grotle's evolution, more important than you might think. By the way, are there any characters you guys would like to see in the story? If I get no suggestions Maylene and Flint may make an appearance. Eh, I might not update as soon as I would like. I'll try my best though, please review!