Some reviewers have noted that we are now quite a few episodes in, and yet Ash doesn't have his second badge yet. While I can understand the issue, as Ash got his second badge in the 7th episode of the anime, Ash's early badges in the anime were largely sympathy badges. In order to prevent this I am making an effort to show him training hard so that he actually earns the badges. Also Ash, is now already two Pokémon up on how he was in the anime at this point and he's embarked on a mini-tournament and had a battle with Gary.
By no means do I intend to drag things out however. Just keep in mind that getting his second badge took Ash 27 episodes in Johto, 31 in Hoenn, 37 in Sinnoh, 16 in Unova and 24 in Kalos. Therefore I don't think taking until episode 22 before he battles Daisy is too much of a stretch.
Anyway, here we go with the next episode. Enjoy!
Pokémon Indigo League
Episode 20: Rival Battle at Nugget Bridge!
From the previous episode…
"Yo, Ash! So you're still struggling back here huh?"
They looked around and saw a figure that was familiar to Ash and Misty.
"Gary?" Ash asked.
"Yep," he replied "So how you're little adventure going?"
"It's going just fine," replied Ash.
"Sure it is. I've been busy catching plenty of strong and smart Pokémon. How about I show ya in a battle?"
He held up a pokéball, and had a glint in his eye that showed his eagerness to battle.
A smile spread across Ash's face as he took out a pokéball of his own and replied "You're on!"
"If you guys want, I could referee," offered Brock.
"That's great," replied Ash.
"Its fine with me," added Gary.
"Alright then," said Brock. "Trainers, choose your Pokémon."
"Pidgeotto, I choose you!" shouted Ash, throwing out the pokéball in his hand.
At the same time Gary threw out the pokéball that he had been holding, calling out "Let's go, Fearow!"
The Pokémon that came out of Gary's pokéball was a large bird, covered in brown feathers. It had an elongated neck and a very long beak. Its eyes were narrow and on its head there was a large crest made up of five pink spikes.
"Who's that Pokémon?" Ash muttered, taking out his Pokédex.
Fearow, the Beak Pokémon. It is the evolved form of Spearow. Its powerful wings allow it to fly around effortlessly all day without landing, and the crushing power of its beak is tremendous. It will shoot up into the sky and then dive down to catch unsuspecting prey.
"So his Spearow must have evolved." stated Ash as he tucked his Pokédex away again. A confident smile appeared on his face. "So, a flying type against another flying type. That's just fine with me. Go, Pidgeotto! Use quick attack!"
Pidgeotto beat her wings to get off the ground, and then darted towards Fearow at great speed.
A smirk appeared on Gary's face before he called out "Use double team to dodge!"
With a cry, Fearow soared upwards, spun around and suddenly there appeared to be ten Fearow in the sky. Pidgeotto sped towards one of these and passed straight through it. The fake disappeared whilst all the others turned to face Pidgeotto.
"Now let's see a fury attack!" commanded Gary.
Each Fearow dived down towards Pidgeotto, bearing down upon the slightly smaller bird with repeated hard jabs of its beak.
The relentless attack forced Pidgeotto out of the air and onto the ground, where Fearow continued to strike.
Ash grit his teeth in frustration before calling out "Pidgeotto, try to use whirlwind to blow Fearow off of you!"
With Fearow and its illusionary copies surrounding it, Pidgeotto was very difficult to spot. That soon changed when a powerful blast of air blew Fearow away from the ground and dispelled the copies.
As Fearow scrambled right itself, Ash moved to press his advantage. "Pidgeotto, hit back with double-edge!"
Pidgeotto spread her wings and became surrounded by a green glow. With several powerful beats of her wings she shot up into the air towards Fearow.
"Use agility to out-run it!" ordered Gary.
Fearow beat its huge wings and rocketed upwards at great speed, easily out manoeuvring Pidgeotto.
"Use quick attack to catch up!" shouted Ash. "Then use double-edge when you're close enough to strike."
The green glow faded from around Pidgeotto's body as she switched attacks. Now she was flying faster and leaving behind a trail of glowing white energy.
Gary watched as Pidgeotto caught up with his Pokémon. He waited for the other flying type to switch back to double-edge and then called out "Double team!"
Again Fearow spun in the air and again it surrounded itself with multiple illusionary copies of itself. Pidgeotto passed harmlessly through one of the fakes.
"Use whirlwind to get rid of the copies!" yelled Ash.
Pidgeotto beat her wings and generated a powerful wind that passed through each Fearow in turn, causing all of them to disappear.
"Hang on-!" exclaimed Ash. "Where's the real one."
"Drill peck!" said Gary, calmly.
The attack came from behind. Fearow's body spun like a drill as its beak took on a white glow. Pidgeotto was struck from behind and reeled from the blow.
"Again!" shouted Gary.
Fearow turned in the air and flew back towards the still dazed Pidgeotto. The smaller flying type was hit again and dropped from the sky.
"Pidgeotto!" Ash shouted as he ran out to break its fall. He succeeded in catching his Pokémon, but Pidgeotto was out for the count.
"Pidgeotto is unable to continue battling," declared Brock.
Ash sighed heavily and held up Pidgeotto's pokéball. "Good job Pidgeotto. Take a good rest."
Pidgeotto vanished back inside its pokéball and Ash pocketed it.
"So, what will you choose next?" asked Gary, smugly.
Ash turned to the Pokémon at his knee and asked "Are ya ready Pikachu?"
"Pika pi!" replied Pikachu, eagerly.
"Alright then! Pikachu, I choose you!"
The little electric type bounded out onto the battlefield, his cheeks crackling with static energy, a sign of his eagerness to battle.
Gary held up a pokéball and called out "Return Fearow!"
A red beam of energy left the pokéball and hit Fearow, drawing the Pokémon back inside its ball.
"So it's going to be like that, is it?" asked Ash.
Gary gave only a smirk in reply before throwing out the pokéball that contained his next choice.
"Let's go, Raticate!"
As the large brown rat appeared on the battlefield, a frown appeared on Ash's face. It seemed that Gary's Rattata had evolved as well.
Ash recalled their last battle together, and remembered that something similar had happened then. Ash had been facing Gary's Spearow and switched his Nidoran for Pikachu. In response, Gary had immediately recalled Spearow and sent in Rattata.
Rattata had lost the subsequent fight, although it had done a lot of damage to Pikachu in the process. Ash expected that he could get a similar outcome here, though hopefully with Pikachu taking less damage.
"Alright Pikachu, use thunderbolt!"
Pikachu's cheeks crackled before he released a massive electrical charge from his body.
Raticate took the full brunt of Pikachu's attack but, despite a shriek of pain, it stood its ground.
"Use dig to get underground!" ordered Gary.
Raticate began scraping away at the ground furiously, gouging out at deep hole.
"Quick attack!" shouted Ash.
Pikachu bounded forwards as quickly as he could, but Raticate had already disappeared below ground.
"Listen out for Raticate's movements!" Ash called out to Pikachu. "Try and predict where it will come up and then dodge it!"
Pikachu nodded and lowered himself to stand on all fours, stomach against the ground as his long, pointed ears twitched.
For a few tense moments nothing happened. Then suddenly the ground beneath Pikachu's feet cracked apart and before the electric type could even think of getting out of the way, Raticate burst up out of the soil, sending dirt, rock and Pikachu flying.
When Pikachu hit the ground, he hit it hard, knocking the air out of him.
"Hyper fang!"
Raticate charged at Pikachu and sank its fangs into the smaller Pokémon.
"Thunderbolt!"
Though screaming in pain Pikachu managed to unleash another powerful blast of electricity from his body, shocking Raticate hard.
The larger Pokémon let go of Pikachu and toppled backwards.
Pikachu's electricity fizzled out and both Pokémon lay unmoving on the ground.
Brock called it. "Both Pokémon are unable to continue battling!"
Ash ran onto the battlefield to pick up Pikachu as Gary recalled Raticate to its pokéball.
"Sorry, buddy. I should've called you back."
"Pika pi," replied Pikachu, weakly.
Ash walked over to Misty and asked "Can you take care of Pikachu for me?"
She nodded and took Pikachu from his arms before he turned and returned to his spot opposite Gary.
"Well I must admit Ash," said Gary. "I wasn't expecting Pikachu to go down easily, but I was not expecting it to take Raticate down with it."
"Pikachu's a lot tougher than people give it credit for," replied Ash. "But then, so are the rest of my Pokémon."
"Is that so? Well, let's see what else you're packing, Ashy-boy!"
"Alight, how's this? Nidorino, I choose you!"
Ash threw out Nidorino's pokéball and the poison type appeared on the battlefield.
"So you're little pipsqueak Nidoran actually evolved," observed Gary. "I'm actually impressed Ash. That one took out my Spearow the last time we battled, so let's see how well it does now that it's bigger. Wartortle, you're up!"
Gary's next Pokémon was a turtle that stood on its hind legs. Its head, arms and legs were blue, its shell was cream coloured on the front and an orange-brown on the back. On either side of its head there were two white ears that somewhat resembled fins and it had a long fin-like, furry tail, also white.
Ash took out his Pokédex again.
Wartortle, the Turtle Pokémon. It is the evolved form of Squirtle. Its long furry tail is said to represent its age and wisdom. The tail is sought after as a symbol of a long life and is said to bring good luck. It often hides in water to stalk unwary prey, and uses its ears to maintain balance when swimming fast.
"So, your Squirtle evolved then," commented Ash.
"Sure did," replied Gary. "Right after my gym battle with Brock, here."
Nidorino pawed at the ground aggressively. While it was true that he had beaten Gary's Spearow in their last battle, Squirtle had been the one to turn the tables and secure Gary the win. Clearly Nidorino wanted to even the score.
Ash began without hesitating. "Nidorino, use horn attack!"
Nidorino bellowed and charged forwards, the horn on his head glowing white and aimed for Wartortle.
"Withdraw!" ordered Gary.
Without wasting a beat, Wartortle tucked is head, arms, legs and tail into its tough shell.
Nidorino struck Wartortle's shell, but the Pokémon within barely felt anything.
The impact caused the shell to roll several feet, but once it stopped Gary called out "Water gun!"
Out of one of the holes in the side of the shell, Wartortle's head appeared. Its mouth opened and it spat out a powerful jet of water which hit Nidorino at full force.
As Nidorino staggered backwards from the force of the attack, Wartortle's arms, legs and tail emerged from its shell and it stood up.
"Mega punch!"
Wartortle charged towards Nidorino, one of its arms raised and a white glow surrounding the fist.
"Poison sting!"
Nidorino spun around so that its back faced Wartortle. A flurry of purple pins shot out from amongst the spines on Nidorino's back and each one slammed into Wartortle hard, stopping the water type in its tracks.
Wartortle stumbled backwards and a wave of purple coloured energy coursed through its body.
"Nice work, Nidorino!" shouted Ash. "You poisoned it. Now use double kick!"
Nidorino snorted and jumped at Wartortle, landing two powerful kicks to the body of its opponent, one from each hind leg.
Gary held up a pokéball and called out "Wartortle, take a break!"
The water type vanished back inside its pokéball.
"What's the matter Gary?" taunted Ash. "Too tough for ya?"
Gary snorted derisively and retorted "I'll show you tough."
He took a ball out of his belt that was coloured differently to the ones that he and Ash had used so far. Rather than the standard red and white colouration, this one was blue and white, but with two red ridges on the blue half.
It was a great ball, a kind of pokéball that was used to capture stronger Pokémon that an ordinary pokéball would struggle to catch.
Gary threw it and it snapped open to send out the Pokémon contained within.
The Pokémon that came out was a little over four feet tall and vaguely human-like in appearance. Its body was mostly yellow, except for a brown area around its chest and shoulders, a brown ring around its thick tail and a red star on its forehead. It had pointed ears and a fox-like snout from which long whiskers grew. Its hands and feet were somewhat like the feet of a bird, being ending in grasping claws and in one of its hands it bore a silver spoon.
"Who's that Pokémon?" asked Misty in surprise.
"It's a Kadabra," replied Brock. "I've never seen one except for in a book. They're meant to be really powerful psychic types."
"A Kadabra, huh?" Ash wondered aloud as he took out his Pokédex in order to find out more.
Kadabra, the Psi Pokémon. It is the evolved form of Abra. It is capable of performing powerful telekinetic attacks by making all of its brain cells work together, which produces powerful alpha waves. These are strong enough to make machines malfunction and generate headaches in people it doesn't like.
"This could be bad," observed Misty.
"Pikachu," agreed Pikachu.
Gary laughed and said "You sure you still want to continue with our battle, Ashy-boy?"
"I'm not giving up," retorted Ash. "I'll beat you, no matter what kind of Pokémon you use! Horn attack!"
Nidorino charged.
"Pathetic!" said Gary with a snort. "Kadabra, Psybeam!"
Kadabra's eyes took on a bright blue glow. Then, from the red star on its forehead, a beam of psychic energy, mostly coloured pink and yellow, though with a few other colours mixed in, shot out and slammed into Nidorino.
The poison type Pokémon didn't stand a chance.
"Nidorino is unable to continue battling!" declared Brock, once Nidorino had stopped its tumble backwards and remained unmoving.
"So, how did you like that, Ash?" asked Gary, tauntingly as Ash recalled his Pokémon to its pokéball. "You know, psychic types are amongst the most powerful Pokémon there are."
"Every Pokémon has a weakness, no matter how powerful they are," replied Ash. "Butterfree, I choose you!"
Ash threw out his next pokéball and it snapped open to allow the butterfly Pokémon to soar into the air above the battlefield.
"An interesting choice," observed Misty. "Psychic types are weak to bug type attacks. Too bad Butterfree doesn't actually know any bug type attacks."
"Pika," confirmed Pikachu.
"Alright, Butterfree! Let's show them what you can do!" shouted Ash. "Use your tackle attack!"
Butterfree cried out as he beat his wings to gain a little height before tucking them into his sides and dive-bombing towards Kadabra.
"Reflect!" ordered Gary.
Kadabra raised its hands in front of it and a there was a brief shimmer of light before what appeared to be a glass wall appeared. Butterfree slammed into this wall and was sent reeling backwards as the wall disappeared.
"Butterfree, use confusion!" shouted Ash.
Butterfree righted itself in mid-air and emitted a pulse of psychic energy from its glowing eyes.
"Psybeam!" ordered Gary.
Kadabra fired out another beam of psychic energy and it shot towards Butterfree. It cut right through the bug-type's confusion attack, causing it to dissipate, before hitting Butterfree hard.
Butterfree tumbled out of the air and hit the ground, where it proceeded to thrash about, hurting itself against the ground.
"Ash!" shouted Misty. "Butterfree's in a confused state. Call it back before it can do anymore damage to itself!"
"Right," agreed Ash and held up Butterfree's pokéball to call it back.
Gary had a smirk on his face as he called out "Not so confident now, are ya Ash?"
"Butterfree will be just fine soon enough," said Ash. "And I've still got more up my sleeve. Mankey, I choose you!"
He threw out Mankey's pokéball and the fighting type Pokémon appeared on the battlefield.
Gary burst out laughing.
"Ash, fighting types are weak to psychic types!" Misty called out.
"Well I don't exactly have a lot of choice!" retorted Ash, his temper flaring. "Mankey, use Karate Chop!"
Mankey jumped into the air, its arm drawn back to land the blow.
"Psybeam," said Gary, with a lazy tone.
Manky never stood a chance. The psychic burst of energy proved once and for all that brains triumphed over brawn by blasting through the air. When the fighting type hit the ground, it did not get up again.
"Mankey is unable to continue battling!" Brock announced.
"If that's the best that you can do then we might as well end this battle now!" Garry called out.
"Not gonna happen!" retorted Ash. "Butterfree, it's all on you!"
He threw out Butterfree's pokéball and the bug type reappeared on the battlefield, free of its confusion.
"Use stun spore!" ordered Ash.
Butterfree beat its wings and unleashed a cloud of yellow dust and pollen into the air.
"Thunder Wave!" shouted Gary.
Kadabra raised its hand and emitted a crackling wave of pale blue electricity. This electricity formed rings which encircled Butterfree and paralyzed it even as the cloud of pollen enveloped Kadabra and did the same.
"Oh man!" groaned Ash "Now we're both paralyzed."
"I wouldn't say that," said Gary as he held up the great ball that belonged to Kadabra. He called the psychic type back and took out a regular pokéball.
"Go, Fearow!"
The large flying type reappeared on the battlefield and soared upwards with a piercing cry.
"End this in one hit," said Gary. "Drill peck!"
Fearow beat its wings and its body spun like a drill as its beak took on a white glow.
"Confusion!" Ash shouted, frantically.
Butterfree succeeded in emitting a blast of psychic energy which knocked Fearow back and stopped the flying type's attack.
"Don't let that stop you!" shouted Gary. "Try drill peck again and again until you land a hit!"
"Keep knocking it back with confusion!" ordered Ash.
Fearow flew in for the attack and Butterfree knocked it back with another blast of psychic energy. Fearow came in a third and Butterfree knocked it back again.
And then came the fourth attack. Butterfree aimed its attack again, but the electrical crackle of paralysis coursed through its body, stopping it from attacking.
Fearow's spinning body rammed into Butterfree and the bug type fell from the sky.
Like Pidgeotto before it, Ash ran out to catch Butterfree in his arms.
"Butterfree is unable to continue battling," declared Brock. "As Ash has no more Pokémon remaining, the winner of this battle is Gary."
"Five Pokémon?" asked Gary, incredulously. "That's all you have? Five?"
"Yeah, so what?" demanded Ash.
"I've got a full team of six and ten more in reserve," replied Gary. "If you don't catch plenty of Pokémon and train them all, you'll never become a top trainer."
"I'm doing just fine with the Pokémon that I have!" retorted Ash.
"It sure doesn't seem like it to me," said Gary. "I just used four Pokémon against five of yours and all you managed was a draw between my Raticate and your Pikachu."
"I also paralysed your Kadabra and poisoned your Wartortle, forcing you to withdraw them from the battle!"
"But both could have continued battling if Fearow and my other two Pokémon had been taken out."
"That's still better than nothing!"
"Whatever. Smell ya later, Ashy-boy."
And with that he walked off.
"That Gary…" growled Ash.
"Cool it Ash," said Misty, as she came up behind him and placed a restraining hand on his shoulder. "We need to get your Pokémon to the Pokémon centre, remember?"
"Right," agreed Ash, taking Pikachu from her.
The three friends turned and headed back to the Pokémon centre in the city.
Sitting in the café area of the Pokémon centre, Ash stared forlornly out through the window as Misty and Brock chatted next to him.
His loss to Gary was playing heavily on his mind. The mocking of the fact that he didn't have a full team of six yet was a particularly grating thought. Deep down he knew that he should not let Gary's taunting get to him, but he couldn't help it. He had been on his adventure for several weeks now, but had only managed to catch five Pokémon in that time. Well, four when he took into account the fact that Pikachu was given to him.
He was, of course, being unreasonable. He knew that he had five Pokémon that were strong, and would only continue to get stronger the more he trained them.
And anyway, who said that he needed six Pokémon? Brock had five Pokémon on hand as well, Onix, Graveler, Kabuto, Omanyte and Zubat, and he was ok with that. And Misty only had three… well, two now that Gyarados was at the Cerulean Gym.
The Cerulean Gym… The name echoed in his mind for some reason. There was something that he had been determined to do while he was in the Cerulean City Gym, other than win the badge. What was it?
"Ash, you're Pokémon are ready," Nurse Joy called from by the door.
Ash and his friends got up and headed over to the front desk where Chansey was placing a tray containing four pokéballs. Pikachu hopped up next to the tray, looking none the worse for the wear.
Suddenly it all clicked in Ash's mind. He wanted a sixth Pokémon, and at the Cerulean City Gym he had seen a Kingler in one of the aquarium's display tanks. He had expressed a desire to own one, but Violet had told him that they were rare in the wild and that he would have more luck finding and catching a Krabby. Battling the one that Lily owned had made him certain that he wanted one.
He spun round to face Misty and asked "Where can I catch a Krabby?"
At first she seemed startled by his sudden question, but she quickly recovered and replied "Actually if we head back to the spot to where you and Gary had your battle, you can fish from the bridge. Krabby are sometimes found there."
"Then let's go!" said Ash eagerly, grabbing her by the arm and heading towards the doors.
"Ash! Your Pokémon!" Brock shouted, following them with the tray of pokéballs in his hands.
"Isn't this relaxing?" asked Misty.
"It sure is," replied Ash.
They were each relaxing in some of the collapsible chairs that Brock had brought with him, enjoying the warmth provided by the afternoon sun.
Brock was taking the time to mix up some more of his special homemade Pokémon food while Ash and Misty each had a fishing rod in hand, waiting for a bite.
Suddenly the reel on Ash's rod began to unwind rapidly.
"I've got a bite!" he exclaimed as he grabbed the rod with both hands and began to wind the line in.
"Me too!" said Misty in excitement a moment later.
They both pulled hard and below them the surface of the water broke as two Pokémon flew out of the water and joined them on the bridge.
Misty had hooked a Krabby and Ash had hooked a Goldeen.
"Swap?" asked Ash.
"You bet!" agreed Misty.
The two swapped places and Ash sent in Pikachu to battle Krabby while Misty sent out her Staryu to take on Goldeen.
As soon as Pikachu and Staryu were ready to battle, the two wild Pokémon attacked.
Krabby's mouth opened and it spat out a flurry of bubbles whilst Goldeen spat out a jet of water.
Bubble and water gun.
"Dodge it Pikachu!" ordered Ash.
"You too, Staryu!" said Misty.
Pikachu jumped one way and Staryu the other, both successfully dodging the attacks aimed at them.
"Pikachu, use quick attack!"
"Tackle it Staryu!"
Pikachu bounded towards Krabby at speed as Staryu threw its full weight at Goldeen.
The two wild Pokémon met their attacks with ones of their own, a horn attack from Goldeen and a vicegrip from Krabby. Each pair collided and struggled against each other for a few moments before backing off.
"Time for a combination attack?" suggested Ash.
"Sounds good," said Misty "Staryu, use swift!"
"Pikachu, thundershock!"
A flurry of small yellow stars shot out from the red gem in the middle of Staryu's body as Pikachu unleashed a light blast of electrical energy.
The two wild Pokémon were hit hard and made no attempt to retaliate.
"Go for it guys," said Brock, eagerly.
Ash took out an empty pokéball and spun it on the tip of his finger as Misty took an empty pokéball of her open bag and kissed the top of it for luck.
They both then threw their respective pokéball at their respective target and each wild Pokémon vanished in a flash of light.
The two pokéballs landed on the ground and rocked about as the Pokémon within fought the capture, but after a few moments both balls went still and the little red light that glowed on the button of each ball dinged out.
"Alright!" cheered Ash, holding the pokéball aloft in triumphant. "I caught a Krabby!"
"And I caught a Goldeen!" cheered Misty.
"Pi Pikachu!" cheered Pikachu as he and Staryu both jumped with joy.
Well, that seems like a good place to leave things. Yeah, it sucks that Ash lost to Gary, but hey at least we left things on a high note!
In case you're wondering, Krabby knows vicegrip, harden, bubble and stomp, and Goldeen knows horn attack, supersonic and water gun.
Thanks for reading.