A/N: Sorry for the long wait. I'm suffering from writer's block on this story. It also doesn't help when I'm in the process of writing my other story that's not a fanfic. Someone asked me what my favorite Pokemon in a PM. Well to be honest, I don't really have a favorite one or a favorite type. Nope. There are three ways to tell what Kind of Pokemon I use. Dragon types are a major one, but I also like any Bird based pokemon such as the Pidgey evolutionary line to the Fletchling evolutionary line. Carnivora Based Pokemon I use range from Vulpix, Ursaring and Growlithe, to Litleo, Fennekin, and Pancham. Occasionally, I might use one that isn't of these types. But anyway enjoy!
Chronicles of the Chosen One: Pokemon Master
Chapter 25: Azalea Town
Ash had been exploring forested area when he finally stopped to do some training. He obviously began training his two Scyther while they wore metal coats. He wasn't expecting them to evolve within just one training session, so he didn't give them any expectations. He did however inform them just what would happen. He had told them that although they were used to flying a lot now, when they evolved they would swap out ground speed for powered flight. They'd be more agile, quick on their feet, and could run faster. Ash was looking at the general shape of the Scizor's wings on the screen. If he wasn't mistaken, they could at least glide a little if they caught enough speed or air. He was busy working on that factor now, hoping to increase their ground speed significantly so when they evolve, they'll be that much faster. It was a predetermined training regime. As for his other Pokemon, namely Heracross and his other bug pokemon, endurance training had been kicked up a notch. He had them taking attacks that they would normally be weak to. His goal was to minimize the flinching and recoiling at being hit by attacks.
Sure there were other methods to such attacks, like Protect, Counter, or just being evasive in general, but Ash knew that every single one of his Pokemon flinched at the pain in an attack no matter which one they were, even Mew and Mewtwo. He'd definitely have to start up major rotations again. For once in his life he was in fear of something. His Pokemon could not train at Professor Oak's back in Pallet. The reason being, was that it simply would not survive the combined training and occupation of Ash's two hundred and two Pokemon that weren't on him. It made him chalk up some ideas about New Island. Professor Oak and Tracey were Ash's primary and only caretakers of any of his Pokemon when they weren't with him, yet Ash knew that combining his Pokemon with all the other Trainers Professor Oak sponsored, it must have been hard on the old man, especially with limited space. He'd have to see about it somehow, maybe even getting New Island involved. Mewtwo was usually the one who helped him out with those sort of situations. But Mew and Mewtwo were keeping an eye on Pallet town and all of his Pokemon there. It had been a couple weeks without the duo. They kept Ash's Pokemon from destroying the Oak Corral as they trained. In other words, their training was always light training so no part of the terrain was damaged. He knew if he had Mewtwo, he could teleport to New Island anytime he wanted. Maybe he needed to see if that can happen with Professor Oak or someone who he could trust. He trusted very few people with his Pokemon.
He brushed off the thoughts about involving New Island for now. He continued his training, this time doing pull ups. Ash was skinny and athletic, but the muscle wasn't there to show just yet. He was still eleven years old, a preteen. His birthday was less than a month away actually. He didn't realize it until he looked at the date on his Pokegear. He was used to Kanto's regional conference schedule where his birthday fell after the Conference near early spring. The Silver Conference fell in late Fall this year. Every Conference happens a year and a half after their last. Ash had about a year and two months left before the Silver Conference.
Things were normal during his and his Pokemon's training until they were stumbled upon by a purple haired trainer. "Oh sorry," He said shrugging, "Thought you were battling a Cyndaquil."
"A Cyndaquil?" Ash questioned as he dropped down from a tree branch he was doing pullups on. "There are Cyndaquil around here?" Ash immediately thought this was intriguing.
"Yeah," The trainer spoke, "I heard they were abundant around here. I'm going to catch one so don't get in my way."
"I see," Ash said playing it off, "I don't even want one." Ash was a liar and he himself knew it. A Cyndaquil? Who in their right mind wouldn't want a Johto Starter? "I'm too busy training."
"Oh," The Trainer said looking slightly at ease, "Okay then. See you around." Ash simply nodded. He waited until the trainer was out of earshot before going to work. Immediately, he returned all of his Pokemon before looking up information on Cyndaquil. He had done so already back at Professor Elm's laboratory, but anything to get one up over this kid, was a must. He learned from his Pokedex that they were generally found in grasslands, occasionally a tunnel near their habitat. So what did he start doing? He started searching. The first thing he did was get up high in a tree, looking around over the tree tops of the dense forest. The trainer had walked East. Ash noticed that West was a large slope that was too small to be a mountain, but too big to be just a hill. So he went that way just because it looked promising. Ash climbed down and went West. He arrived at the slope around fifteen minutes later, discovering that the entire area that he had seen from afar were tunnel entrances. Ash studied the tunnels for a moment before noting a little blue and yellow pokemon walking inside one of them. Immediately, he followed it. Before he even got into the cave, it tackled him. At first, Ash thought the Pokemon was attacking, then he heard something in the cave itself.
He spun out the way of the cave Pikachu jumping from his shoulder to a small outcropping. Coming out the Cave was a large brown-like bear with a golden ring on its stomach. "Urrsaaa!" It roared terrifyingly.
"Pikachu use—!" The large bear-like Pokemon swung its massive arm sideways right into Pikachu. Pikachu, not expecting such force and surprised by the Pokemon in general was knocked out immediately. Ash grabbed ahold of Pikachu as he held onto the little Cydaquil, then bolted. It was instinct that drove Ash to do so…..and to run. He was chased by the bipedal bear holding the two smaller Pokemon in his arms. The Pokemon kept taking swipes at Ash who was staying just out of reach of the bear as he ran. Ash jumped over fallen logs, weaved around smaller trees, tackled through bushes, ducked under low hanging branches, and even slid down a hill or two, all while trying to escape the bear Pokemon's clutches. He was immediately glad he did Cardio almost every day, otherwise the angry Pokemon would have made contact with him by now. All of a sudden a huge blast narrowly missed Ash. A Hyperbeam tore pass the young trainer toppling several trees. Ash knew this was his chance. He wasn't going to catch this Pokemon due to the fact he was currently down to one Pokeball. The said Pokeball was reserved for the Cydaquil. Ash threw out Charlene, his non-shiny female Charizard. She came out with a roar, immediately stopping the Pokemon's pursuit. The said Pokemon was currently recharging from its hyper beam anyways so it wasn't much of a choice.
"Alright Charlene," Ash said, "All I want to do is scare off that Pokemon. I can't catch it." Charlene nodded spitting an ember out while growling. Ash took the time to scan the angry pokemon.
"Ursaring, the Hibernating Pokemon and the evolved form of Teddiursa. Ursaring are highly territorial, temperamental, and have been known to chase tresspassers long after they have left the said territory."
"Well this describes you to the bone," Ash commented putting away the Pokedex. The Ursaring growled before stepping forward. "Charlene, flamethrower."
The Ursaring dodged and went to attack Charlene. "Catch its claws then fire blast." The female Charizard literally stopped the Ursaring's slash with her claws before firing a fire blast into its face. The Ursaring shook off the attack still trying to get loose. "Seismic toss." Charlene obliged throwing the Ursaring away over several trees after taking flight. Ash waited, seeing if the Ursaring would return for more fighting. It never showed up.
"Thank you Charlene," Ash spoke returning her to her Pokeball. She merely nodded accepting her return. He shook Pikachu awake who immediately started to shake his head ending a dizzy spell.
"Pika?"
"You okay buddy?"
"Pi," He replied nodding before returning to his owner's shoulder.
"And you little guy?" Ash asked, to the young Cyndaquil which was currently looking at Ash from the tip of his shoes.
"Cynda!" The Cydaquil uttered nodding before nuzzling the trainer on the ankle.
"Good," Ash said before crouching down. "I bet you were pretty scared huh?"
"Cyndaquil," The little fire mouse pokemon said nodding lowly.
"If you want," Ash continued, "I can make it to where you'll never have to be frightened again. I can make you stronger."
"Quil?" It asked as if saying really?
"Of course," Ash replied nodding, "But in order for that to happen, you have to be caught."
"Cyndaquil," The little pokemon said before nodding, "Cyndaquil, Cynda, Cydaquil!"
"Okay then," Ash said smirking the pulling out his last Pokeball, "Welcome to the team." Cyndaquil accepted capture, ending Ash's Cyndaquil hunt. Ash made it a point to figure out where his little training area was, and return to it for the rest of the day as it wouldn't bode well to travel before night. It looked as if Ash was in for another night of a sleeping with his Pokemon under a thick tree branch.
…
Proton-
He observed as Team Rocket Grunts were moving caged Slowpoke towards the amputation table where the luckiest grunts got to amputate the Slowpoke tails. One tail was made Team Rocket one thousand Pokedollars. For a week, he had oversaw operations in Azalea Town. Team Rocket had made more than enough profit off of the thousands of Slowpoke that were stolen by grunts every night. It's not like the Slowpoke were in pain. It took one a few days to realize it didn't have a tail. It just tilted its head speaking its name as it tried to look at its nonexistent tail. Proton didn't care. All they were good for was for profit. Their operation was in a cave near the Slowpoke Well. Or at least where the tails were shipped off. It was also the location of Kurt, the Master Pokeball creator. Kurt's cottage and workshop was located a mile outside the city limits. It was easy kidnapping him and stealing his schematics. His schematics along with Apricorn Sapplings had been transported previously. The only reason Kurt was still around was because Team Rocket didn't need him going off and telling the Town Police force about the operation.
No, they'd keep Kurt around. They didn't need a murder on their hands, not that Porton minded, but a murder wouldn't look good on Team Rocket's part. There was too much evidence of Rocket activity here and almost all of the agents would be discovered if the police were involved. Not to mention, Giovanni gave Proton an executive order not to draw too much attention to themselves until they were ready to pull out.
….
Ash
The day after his capture of Cyndaquil and battle with the wild Ursaring, Ash was now entering Azalea Town. The town was large and the plants all around were dry. It was something akin to town in the middle a highly dehydrated field with several boulders all around. The only exception was the forested area in the mountains North West of the Town. That was apparently the Illex Forest from what Ash could gather on his Pokegear. Azalea town was supposed to be overpopulated with Slowpoke. But from what Ash could tell, there were hardly any here. In fact, he only saw three since his entrance here. Ash stopped. He could feel an empathetic pull. But it was strange. It was like the atmosphere was centered around people, not Pokemon. He could tell the locals were agitated.
Confused as to where this human-empathetic ability came from, he looked around. He briefly wondered when it could have developed. He could feel agitation in effect about the Slowpoke. It wasn't towards them hostilely, it was worrisome. Ash looked at Pikachu who seemed to pick up on something. He wasn't quite sure what was going on, but something was very wrong with this town. The first place he went to was the PokeMart, to replenish his stock of Ultra-grade Pokeballs and some medical supplies. The second place he went to was the Pokemon Center. While he waited on his Pokemon for their medical check-up, he decided to call Professor Oak, this time on a videophone.
"Hey Professor," Ash greeted.
"Ash!" The old Pokemon Researcher said, "Good to hear from you my boy. How goes your Journey?"
"So far the same as usual," Ash replied nodding, "Meeting new Pokemon Trainers who have unique ways of training Pokemon for different things and catching new ones."
"I noticed," The Professor replied nodding, "I've been watching your progress. Got a Cyndaquil I see."
"Yes sir," Ash replied nodding, "He's a young one, saved him and myself from an Ursaring."
"An Ursaring eh? I'm surprised you didn't try and catch it."
"Ran out of Pokeball's," Ash replied, "Just restocked. Anyways, I called to check up on my Pokemon."
"They're all doing fine," Professor Oak replied nodding, "Though Mewtwo left to go and check on something about New Island. He mentioned that it was growing or something like that. Care to elaborate."
"Honestly," Ash replied, "I wouldn't know where to begin. Okay then. Send me a text when he is back. I need him on my active team again."
"Very well," Professor Oak replied nodding, "Whatever for?"
"A few things I need to discuss with him on New Island," Ash replied before getting a slight ache in his head, "and…..something else." The pain in his head disappeared just as quickly as it appeared. "I got to go professor. I'm in Azalea Town. I'll call you back when I get the G.S Ball to Kurt."
"Okay," Professor Oak replied nodding, "Please do." With that, Ash ended his short conversation with Professor Oak. A migraine started to form again. He put the bottom of his palm to his forehead. "Go away…." He endured it for a few more minutes before it went away. He retrieved his Pokemon before heading towards Kurt's house, which Nurse Joy directed him to. His arrival to Kurt's house was something of an alarm. An officer Jenny and several other Police Officers were there investigating the house in detail.
"Excuse me," Ash asked the Officer Jenny, "But what's going on?"
"We got a call from the granddaughter of a man who lives here," Officer Jenny spoke, "The man's name is Kurt, a Master Pokeball smith who as recently gone missing."
"Kurt has gone missing?" Ash muttered to himself.
"Do you know Kurt?" Officer Jenny asked.
"Not personally," Ash spoke, "I'm actually on business for Professor Oak in the Kanto Region to deliver something to Kurt. It's important and requires his expertise." Ash got a migraine, suddenly remembering the less than abundant Slowpoke. "You don't think this is related to the Slowpoke do you?"
"How do you know about the Slowpoke disappearing?" Officer Jenny asked analytically.
Ash knew that if he told her that the thought just came to him, she'd question him even more and be suspicious, so he came up with a lie. "Professor Oak told me that Azalea Town was known for its massive slowpoke population," He spoke, "I've only seen seven since I've been here."
"Very well," Officer Jenny spoke, "As to answer your question, It's possible, but we don't have enough evidence to back it up."
"Understood," Ash said nodding, "Then I'll find him and figure out why the Slowpoke are disappearing."
"Young man I don't think you realize how dangerous this investigation can be," Officer Jenny spoke, "It's no place for a kid like yourself. Let the police force handle this."
Ash smirked. "I don't think you know who I am," Ash retorted turning around, "I've been in situations that'll probably make this look like a walk in a Sunflora field."
"I must insist that you stay out of this," Officer Jenny spoke.
"I'm sorry Officer I can't do that," Ash replied, "One I don't just sit on the sidelines. Two, as a Pokemon Trainer and Conference Champion, it's my duty to figure out what's going on with these Slowpoke."
"You're a Conference Champion?" Officer Jenny asked, "Wait….a ten year old with a Pikachu on his shoulder and a Conference Champion."
"Yes," Ash replied drawled on, "I'm Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town, owner of a few top notch Pokemon that took on the Indigo and Orange leagues and won. Introductions aside, let's figure out what's going on."
"Right," Officer Jenny said nodding, "Well we believe that the Slowpoke are being stolen overnight, but the thieves are careful not to be seen. As for Kurt, we can only imagine that, if he was kidnapped, then they'd want him for his craftsmanship as a Pokeball smith."
"Highly likely," Ash spoke, "But why would…." He looked at a Slowpoke that was laying lazily on the fence and staring at him with a blank expression. He felt an emotion from it. It felt like...pain. "What's wrong with that Slowpoke?"
"What do you mean?"
Ash noticed something. It was missing a tail. "It's missing a tail."
"Another one?" Officer Jenny asked looking perplexed, "That tears it. Someone's cutting off the tails of these Slowpoke."
"Aren't those things worth money on the Black Market?" Ash asked.
"Yes," Officer Jenny said inspecting the Slowpoke, "I'm going to see if I can get this Slowpoke to the Pokemon Center."
"Before you go," Ash spoke, "Is there a certain spot that the Slowpoke hang out at in town? Maybe there's something there that'll give us a lead."
"Try the Slowpoke Well," Officer Jenny spoke, "That was where we were going to investigate next. It's just outside the North Eastern section of town."
Ash nodded before taking off that way. A few minutes later, he found the Slowpoke Well which was a large cave that literally was a slope that sank into the ground. Ash looked around to see another cave off to the side where someone in black was guarding it. Ash saw the R on the man's shirt. "That answers everything…."
Ash was unseen so far looking at the Rocket Grunt with every form of hate he could muster. Pikachu's cheeks sparked intensely with electricity and Ash could feel anger resonate from his emotions. "Don't worry Pi," Ash spoke, "We'll take care of them." Ash pulled out one of his Pokeball's for the ready. Pikachu was more than enough, but he always needed a backup plan. "Hey!" Ash yelled walking towards the Rocket Grunt. "What do you think you're doing out here?"
"Beat it kid," The Rocket Grunt said, "This is a Team Rocket Operation."
"Good," Ash said trying the normal tactic, "That means that I can go inform the police."
"Well in that case," The Rocket Grunt said, "You can't go anywhere." He started towards Ash. Ash just looked at Pikachu from his shoulder who stared at the Grunt. All he did was nod towards the grunt and Pikachu jumped off of Ash's shoulder and hit the Grunt with an Iron Tail. The attack sent the grunt back into a boulder knocking him out. Ash walked towards the cave, Pikachu returning onto his trainer's shoulder.
Ash knew that it was a dangerous idea going inside the Cave, knowing the potential that Team Rocket was capable of. He rationalized all the potential threats that could happen. He was well known in the Kanto Region as a Conference Champion. No doubt, Team Rocket had their eyes on him, or at least the higher ups, especially due to Mew and Mewtwo. Ash was ready for them though. He walked inside the cave and followed the tunnel. He was standing on a ledge where Team Rocket Grunts were moving cages of Slowpoke towards one section. Ash watched as they used skill saws to cut the tails off the Dopey Pokemon. "We're going to have to be quiet Pi," Ash muttered, "I'll use Gengar first." Ash called out the said Pokemon.
"Gengar," Ash spoke, "See if you can't find any prisoners and try and find the leader of this operation. Be quiet about it though." His Gengar nodded sinking into the ground. Ash quickly ducked behind some crates just as a few agents passed by. Ash pulled out another Pokeball which happened to be his Venusaur. "Okay Venusaur, I need you to use Sleep Powder on those agents over there." He gestured to the ones that were walking by. One noticed the flash of Venusaur coming out of his Pokeball.
"Hey what's….." He fell asleep along with the rest of the squad. Ash kept observing the operation down below, watching as many Team Rocket Grunts worked to move the caged slowpoke into the amputation zone. He saw that many grunts were putting the amputated tails in freezer boxes before loading them onto a trolley system.
"Gennn," Ash heard from behind. Gengar returned.
"Any luck?" Gengar nodded.
"Are both here?"
"Gengar," The Ghost Pokemon spoke nodding.
"Very well," Ash said, "Time to go loud. Venusaur, be prepared to use razor leaf and vine whip from up here to give us a hand.
"Saur!" Venusaur replied nodding.
"Gengar," Ash spoke, "Pikachu. Let's go."
Ash walked casually down the slope. "Alright show's over!" He yelled, "Every has five seconds to stop what they're doing or they'll regret it."
The Rocket Grunts stopped then looked at where the commotion was coming from before they started to laugh. "A kid with a puny pikachu and a dumb ghost Pokemon," one spoke, "That's rich."
"How about you go home to mommy little boy," Another Grunt said.
But one of the smarter grunts seemed to notice something. "No way!" He yelled, "What are you doing here!?"
"You know this guy?"
"He's the Indigo Conference Champion," The Grunt spoke, "The owner of Mew and Mewtwo!"
The Grunts all froze up, seeing Ash smirk deviously. "Yeah," Ash spoke, "And you have all been caught doing a cruel and illegal thing to Pokemon. Another thing. You just insulted my Pokemon. Gengar, Pikachu? You know what to do."
Pikachu and Gengar ran amok amongst the Rocket Grunts, Pikachu electrocuting most of them, while Gengar phasing through solid objects and using sucker punch. He also was simultaneously unlocking the cage doors on the Slowpoke's cages. Before the Rocket Grunts could retaliate with their own Pokeball's, many were picked up by vines that came out of the shadows and their Pokeballs were taken from them. All in all, it took the entire platoon a few moments to realize that they were outmatched. After all the ruckus was settled, Ash noticed that the leader of the operation came out.
"I suppose you are the leader of this operation?" Ash asked to verify his suspicions.
"But of course," The man spoke, "I am Proton, a Team Rocket Commander. You have disrupted our mission here. That's a mistake you'll pay dearly for."
"How about save us both the trouble and come quietly?" Ash asked, "You know you're cornered."
"On the contrary Mr. Ketchum," Proton replied, "It is you who is cornered. The only way things are going to happen here is that I leave. I have explosives lined in the room with Kurt in there. You have about five minutes to get him before he dies." Proton disappeared into the shadows before Ash bounded off towards the place where Kurt was located.
"Gengar," Ash said, "Disable those explosives by flying through them." Gengar nodded going through the wall to where Kurt was. Ash ran through the tunnels looking for the right way to Kurt. He finally found him in a room tied up. Gengar had phased through the wall looking clueless.
"Are you okay Kurt?"
"Yeah," Kurt said, "What about the Pokemon? What about the Slowpoke?"
"I freed them all," Ash replied taking out his combat knife, "Come on. Let's get you out of here Kurt." He cut the bindings before helping him up.
"Thank you young man," Kurt spoke, "By the way who are you?"
"My name's Ash Ketchum," Ash replied, "Professor Oak sent me to give you something. You weren't there, so I came to find you." Let's get out of here before…." Ash looked around expecting to see explosives lining the walls. "There are no explosives…..that clever—"
"Pika!" Pikachu uttered. Now wasn't the time to talk. They had to get Kurt out of here. So Ash escorted Kurt out of the cave. Officer Jenny was outside with a police force that had arrested many Rocket Grunts. Proton was nowhere to be found. He had escaped with the knowledge of how to create Pokeball's from Apricorns along with several saplings and one of Kurt's Schematics.
The Slowpoke were running around the town, most of them without tails. Thankfully, Slowpoke's tails would regenerate after a few weeks. That's probably what Team Rocket was banking on. Officer Jenny informed Ash that due to the amount of Slowpoke that the organization had maimed, it was safe to say that they made profit off of it, not to mention the fact that they had stolen Kurt's designs for Apricorn-basd Pokeballs, particularly the Fast Ball, the Lure Ball, and the Heavy Ball. One thing was for sure, whatever Team Rockets plans were for creating those Pokeball's, it wasn't good.
"Here you go," Ash said to Kurt as he handed him the long awaited G.S Ball.
"This Pokeball is exactly what I thought it would be," Kurt spoke, "A mystery in its own right. I'll have to do some studying on it Ash."
"So you know nothing about it?"
"Not even its origins," Kurt spoke, "But I'll see what I can do. Now, I don't normally do this, but since you helped me and Azalea town, how about I show you how to make Apricorn Pokeballs." Ash tried to argue with the old man, but found out that it was pointless. He aided Kurt in making the Pokeballs before earning a few himself. He even purchased many of them. He ended up putting them in transport mode though so they could all fit inside his Pokeball case. He had ten of every Apricorn-typed Pokeball. Leaving the G.S Ball with Kurt, Ash made his way over to the Azalea Gym.
...
The Azalea gym was similar to the Celadon Gym back in Kanto. It was like a forest under a dome only the trees inside were much taller, mimicking the Johto's Redwood forests. The Gym was teeming with many Bug Type Pokemon from both regions. The gym leader was up on a branch laying down on it next to a nest of Caterpie.
"Ash Ketchum," The boy said, "I was wondering when you'd show up. My name's Bugsy, the Azalea Gym Leader."
"Pleased to meet you," Ash replied nodding.
"Well," Bugsy said smirking as he leaned up, "I guess we should go ahead and get this show on the road." Bugsy expertly slid off the branch, and climbed down the tree. "Hey ref! Get over here! We've got us a challenger."
"I'm coming, I'm coming," The said referee announced coming out of a side room behind some brush. When they were all in their place, the referee announced, "This will be a three on three battle between Bugsy the Gym Leader and Ash Ketchum the Challenger. Call out your first Pokemon."
"I choose Metapod!" Bugsy announced.
A Metapod?" Ash wondered silently, "Something's up." He pulled out his Pokeball. "Alright then," Ash spoke, "Cyndaquil come on out!" Cyndaquil came out, it's flames not even started. If Ash wasn't an experienced trainer, he wouldn't have expected this. Cyndaquil was relatively young and had barely any control over the power to ignite its flames, thus using fire attacks, without getting warmed up. Ash had put Cyndaquil through training on his way to Azalea town. Although the training sessions were short, he did show slight progress.
"Begin!" The referee announced.
"Metapod harden!"
"Cyndaquil use tackle."
Cyndaquil was rewarded with a horrible pain in his shoulder thanks to Metapods harden. Bugsy laughed at this. "Harden once more."
"Tackle again."
"That won't work Ash," Bugsy said as Cyndaquil tackled once more, "My Metapod's unique. Its defense is much more stronger than the average Metapod. And it can do this. Metapod tackle!" Surprisingly, Metapod obeyed.
"Cyndaquil dodge!" Ash ordered. Cyndaquil dodged with amazing speed. "A was waiting to see what was so special about this Metapod. You just summed up all I needed to know about it." At that moment, Cyndaquil's flames ignited. "Good. Now use Ember!"
"Cynda!" Cyndaquil acknowledged before peppering Metapod with it, "Now use tackle once more." The combination of attacks actually beat Metapod.
"I knew it!" Bugsy said, "I was wondering why you hadn't smoked Metapod the first time. Your Cyndaquil's young isn't it?"
"Yeah," Ash replied as Cyndaquil sat down looking tired, "It's still a child. As such, I forfeit him from the battle Ref."
"Are you sure?" The Referee spoke.
"Yeah," Ash replied returning Cyndaquil.
"Very well," The referee spoke, "Both Pokemon are unable to battle. Call out your next Pokemon."
"Spinarak let's go!" Bugsy spoke.
"Ariados," Ash called out, "Take the field."
"You have an Ariados!" Bugsy gushed like a little girl, "Aw man that's so cool! I've been training my Spinarak nonstop trying to evolve him! It looks awesome"
"Uh thanks?" Ash spoke sweatdropping.
"Begin!" The Referee spoke.
"Spinarak use poison sting!"
"Ariados jump," Ash spoke, "Then use Night Shade!" Two beams of black lightning-like energy shot from Ariados' eyes hitting its pre-evolved form.
Spinarak was hit immediately. "Spinarak!" Bugsy said in shock as the bug hit the ground with an instant Knock Out. "How?"
"Night Shade hits based on the target's experience," Ash spoke putting his hands in his pocket, "Ariados and Spinarak are both strong, but you also got to take in how much stronger my Ariados is. All of my Pokemon have been put into intense training compared to other Pokemon. But now, I'm stepping up my game a little bit. Their training is only just beginning." He returned Ariados. "Another thing to take into account; statistically, Bug types and their moves are all weaker than normal Pokemon."
Bugsy returned his Spinarak looking dejected for a brief moment. "Alright then," Bugsy said, "Then I'll call out my last Pokemon. Scyther come on out!"
"I'll call out my Heracross then," Ash spoke.
"You have a Heracross too!" Bugsy said going into his little gushing mode, "That's so cool! You've got to tell me where you're getting all of these bug pokemon!"
"You're the Bug Type Specialist," Ash muttered sweatdropping.
"Begin!" The Referee spoke.
"Heracross use tackle," Ash spoke.
"Swords dance!" Bugsy spoke. Ash sighed just as Heracross was thrown away like a ragdoll. But Heracross got right back up. Ash taught his two Scyther the same defensive technique. "Heracross," Ash spoke, "Let's finish this. Bulk up."
"You can't get through my Scyther's defenses Ash," Bugsy said.
"How much you want to bet," Ash spoke, "I taught my two Scyther the same move. Heracross? Aerial Ace please." Heracross went straight for Scyther who started to use swords dance. "Now attack from above." Heracross flew up and came straight down on Scyther with his Aerial Ace, pulverizing Scyther. Scyther couldn't move.
"How!?" Bugsy said in shock.
"This Heracross has been with me since a couple days after I started my journey in the Johto region," Ash spoke, "He's my strongest Pokemon from Johto so far. I've been training him to overcome the "
"Scyther is unable to battle," The Referee spoke, "The winner is the Challenger, Ash Ketchum and his Heracross!"
"Well," Bugsy said crestfallen, "I guess I lost…" He perked up. "But I guess it's expected when I'm going up against a Conference Champion. Anyways, thanks for the great battle and here's your Hive Badge. It's not often someone figures out about Scyther's weak spot in his Swords dance defense."
"You're welcome," Ash spoke smirking, "I guess I better get going. Got a lot of traveling to do for my next Gym Badge." He thought idly to himself as well. "And to figure out what Team Rocket's up to." With that, Ash left The Azalea Gym, continuing his journey.
.…
Ash's Pokemon-
Johto Journey's Arc-
Furret(F), Heracross (2M2F), Stantler(7M, 15F), Chikorita(F), Quagsire (F), Charizard(Charlene, Charlotte)(1F, 1SF), Sunkern(M), Ledyba(F), Mareep (1F,1M), Flaaffy(F), Ariados(M), Cyndaquil (1M)
Evolved from Previous Arcs-
N/A