In this chapter, our other protagonists are going to try facing Chuck. What does this chapter have to do with grapes? Erm, Chuck felt like eating grapes today. Perhaps he was feeling a bit fruity.

Knowing Chris she will probably enjoy fighting a fighting-type Gym Leader. Chuck is the first fighting gym leader in the Pokemon series. Not the first fighting type specialist though. That would happen to be Bruno. Like Chuck, he never seems to have a shirt on. Where did he put his shirt?

I wonder why Chuck lets his roaring fists do the talking. Who knows?

Chapter 28: Grapes Of Poliwrath

Now that Lucy had fought the Gym Leader, Chris decided she would give it a shot. If she could win against Chuck, theoretically she could do the same, right? She was looking forward to making her Pokemon stronger.

She decided she would use Gengar. There was no way fighting Pokemon could take him down with their bare hands. And even if they could hit Gengar, he was also a poison type. That meant that he would take reduced damage.

Not only that, but he typically intimidated his opponents. Technically, it wasn't his ability, but he did strike fear in their hearts.

That was useful against psychic types since they needed to focus. Unfortunately, his poison typing meant that he took super effective damage from his psychic attacks as well. They knew a thing or two about curing poison.

Chuck was currently using a dumbbell.

Chris approached him.

"I'm here to consult you about getting a Storm Badge. You are the Gym Leader, right?" asked Chris. It would be a waste of time if she sailed across the sea if Cianwood City didn't have a gym badge.

Hopefully after this she would have her fifth badge. Then there would be only three gym badges to go. And she already knew where to get one of them.

Well, maybe not completely. Didn't Jasmine want medicine?

"You've come to the right place!" exclaimed Chuck.

Chuck sent out his Primeape.

"Prime!" shouted Primeape, swinging his fists.

Chris wondered why Primeapes were always so grumpy. Jake at least seemed to be able to keep his Primeape under control. Although, he might have made enemies with him back when he was still a Mankey if it weren't for Lucy.

Chris nodded and sent out her Gengar.

"Gengar!" exclaimed Gengar.

Normally, Primeape was the one who frightened his opponent, but he found Gengar to be rather unnerving.

It seemed that he might be at a disadvantage. No fighting attacks would hurt Gengar.

However, there was nothing stopping him from using Rock Slide. That was effective against flying types, though it wouldn't necessarily give him an advantage against psychic types.

He decided to do that.

Luckily for Gengar, he was fast enough to avoid it.

He then launched a Shadow Ball at Primeape.

"Primeape!" shouted the monkey Pokemon.

He launched another Rock Slide at Gengar, but he avoided it once more.

He then launched another Shadow Ball at Primeape, and he fainted.

"Looks like we have the upper hand!" exclaimed Chris.

Gengar smiled.

However, Chuck wasn't inclined to give up so easily. Chris would be disappointed if he gave up after just one of his Pokemon fainted. Besides, his other fighting Pokemon were most likely itching for another fight.

This time, he sent out Machoke.

Gengar hit Machoke with a Shadow Ball, like he did with Primeape. It also seemed to be effective.

All that muscle didn't protect from Gengar's special attacks.

However, Machoke decided to get even.

He used Payback.

"Gengar!" shouted the ghost Pokemon.

Normally, he would use this as a counter against psychic types, but it also worked well against ghost types.

It looked as if Gengar no longer had the upper hand.

Chris had Gengar use Shadow Ball again, but Machoke dodged it this time.

He then used Payback once more and Gengar fainted.

"Gengar..." murmured the fainted ghost Pokemon.

It looked as if she would want to use another Pokemon that was effective against fighting types.

She went with Fearow.

Granted, being a normal type meant that she actually WOULDN'T take less damage against fighting attacks, but she would still do super effective damage.

Unfortunately for Machoke, he had a hard time hitting Fearow.

Like Gengar, she was rather fast.

Not only that, but her beak really hurt him.

"Macho!" shouted Machoke. That beak was drilling into him!

"Fearow!" exclaimed Chris's Fearow.

"Fear the Fearow!" shouted Chris.

Chuck noted that maybe he should. Fearow was a mighty opponent. Maybe not as mighty as his Poliwrath was, but still.

Machoke was taking a beating.

He tried using Focus Punch, but he couldn't focus when he was being attacked so aggressively.

Machoke fainted.

Recalling Machoke, Chuck sent out his last Pokemon.

"Poliwrath!" shouted the water Pokemon.

"Interesting, this one's both a water and a fighting type." noted Ned.

Having a dual type Pokemon could come in handy, though they couldn't do quite as much damage as a single type Pokemon could.

Unfortunately, Poliwrath's Surf Attack was powerful. And to make matters worse, it was big enough that Fearow couldn't simply fly over it.

"Fearow!" shouted Fearow.

She was able to get a few pecks in, but Poliwrath stood strong.

He then hit Fearow with a Focus Punch.

Fearow fainted.

"Fearow..." murmured the bird Pokemon. He was seeing birds around his head, ironically enough.

It looked as if it would be a good idea to choose a Pokemon that was a grass type. Or an electric type.

She decided to use Parasect. His typing would mean that he would resist BOTH of Poliwrath's types.

"Parasect!" exclaimed Chris.

"Good move, though you seem to prefer using strength to overpower your opponents." remarked Chuck.

"It's true, I do." noted the teenage girl. She did try to act like Ned did sometimes though. They had more in common that what some people thought.

Parasect used Spore, and Poliwrath fell asleep.

"Wrath..." murmured Poliwrath in his sleep.

Chuck realized that he was at a disadvantage. As long as Poliwrath was asleep, there was no way that he could fight back against Parasect.

It looked as if he was a sitting Psyduck.

Parasect then used Giga Drain.

Poliwrath lost his strength.

However, he was starting to wake up.

Quickly, Chris had Parasect attack again.

Fortunately, this was enough.

Poliwrath fainted.

"Poliwrath..." murmured the fighting Pokemon. Was he going to have to be treated for athlete's foot after this? He certainly hoped not.

Either way, it would be a good time to visit the Pokemon Center.

It looked as if Parasect had managed to endure his wrath.

"You are one strong Pokemon trainer. Have you ever thought about becoming a Gym Leader yourself?" asked Chuck.

Chances are she would be good at it.

"I'd rather fight them." answered Chris.

Chuck shrugged. That made sense.

After all, one particular Gym Leader used to be an aspiring Pokemon Trainer who was a Champion at one point.

Granted, he tended to leave the Gym often, which was a problem for Kanto Pokemon Trainers, but still.

Chris received her Storm Badge.

Now, perhaps she could battle Jasmine.

Now it was Ned's turn to fight Chuck.

"Ready?" asked Chuck.

He got the feeling that Ned would use a different strategy.

Ned nodded.

Chuck sent out Primeape.

"Ape ape!" shouted Primeape. Despite being a monkey Pokemon, he had no tolerance for monkey business. He was a fighter, not a businessman.

Ned sent out Misdreavus.

"Misdreavus!" shouted the ghost Pokemon, flashing a mischievous smile.

Primeape was at a disadvantage once again. His fighting techniques would simply go right through his opponent.

Unfortunately, Misdreavus was capable of flying over the rocks that Primeape sent towards her.

Not only that, but Misdreavus let out a scream.

Primeape was forced to cover his ears. And yes, though they weren't visible, he did have ears. That was how he understood his trainer's commands.

Meanwhile...

Lucy returned to Olivine City and gave Ampharos the medicine he required.

"Ampharos!" cheered the electric Pokemon. He was starting to feel better already.

Pretty soon he would be able to go back to his job.

It was a good thing really. There were a lot of sailors that had been waiting for him to recover.

Jasmine was grateful to Lucy for her help.

"Thanks. Now I can go back to being Gym Leader." said Jasmine. There were Pokemon trainers who were hoping to get their gym badges.

She immediately left the lighthouse.

Lucy was looking forward to fighting her.

Hopefully Jake would be able to beat Chuck this time.

He was a strong Gym Leader.

Strangely enough, Jasmine seemed to have a different personality to him.

She heard that there was another gym in Mahogany Town, but she got the feeling that she would need to do something before challenging the Gym Leader there.

Perhaps it involved Team Shadow?

She contacted Jake.

Sure enough, he was feeling confident enough to try challenging Chuck again.

However, he was busy fighting Ned at the moment.

Hopefully he would do well.

Fortunately, he was doing well at the moment.

Misdreavus hit Primeape with Shadow Ball.

He was knocked off-balance.

"Primeape!" shouted the monkey Pokemon. That attack really surprised him.

She then followed up with another Shadow Ball.

Primeape fainted.

"Primeape..." murmured the fighting Pokemon. He felt like he had just visited a haunted house.

Maybe he would be afraid of his own shadow after this.

If he wore pants, Misdreavus would have scared them right off him.

Then again, Pokemon generally didn't wear clothes. They had fur instead.

For his next Pokemon Chuck decided to send out Machoke.

"Machoke!" shouted the fighting Pokemon.

He flexed out his muscles.

Chris seemed to recall Jake used to having a Machoke. However, it had evolved into a Machamp.

He was a more difficult opponent than Primeape was, using Payback to counter the Shadow Balls.

Misdreavus was starting to feel rather dizzy.

On the lighter side, Machoke was starting to feel worn out as well.

However, Misdreavus gave out first.

"Misdreavus..." murmured the ghost Pokemon.

For his next Pokemon, Ned decided to send out Victreebel.

Since Victreebel was a poison type, it could resist Machoke's attacks.

Not only that, but she wouldn't take super effective damage from his dark type attacks.

Machoke lunged towards Victreebel.

However, Victreebel simply swallowed him.

Machoke found himself being burned by acid.

He fainted shortly afterwards.

"Machoke..." murmured the fainted fighting Pokemon.

Victreebel spat out Machoke shortly afterwards.

"That couldn't have been pleasant..." noted Ned.

Chuck noted that perhaps it would be best to take Machoke to the Pokemon Center after that.

Since Machoke was down for the count, it was time to send out Poliwrath.

However, he too was at a type disadvantage.

Victreebel pelted Poliwrath with Razor Leaves.

"Poliwrath!" shouted the water Pokemon.

Poliwrath launched a tidal wave at Victreebel.

However, it didn't hurt her too much. It seemed that she had soaked up much of the water.

Victreebel pelted Poliwrath with Poison Powder.

All of a sudden, Poliwrath wasn't feeling too well.

"Poliwrath..." murmured the fighting Pokemon.

However, he hit Victreebel with Focus Punch.

"Victreebel!" shouted the grass Pokemon.

That attack really packed a whallop.

She was still standing, but barely.

Victreebel hit Poliwrath with more Razor Leaves.

This made him feel weak.

However, he hit Victreebel with Surf.

This was just enough to make her faint.

But at that very moment, the poison took effect.

Poliwrath fainted too.

"Looks like you won! I have to admit, you're a good strategist!" exclaimed Chuck.

Chuck wondered if Ned would become a psychic-type specacilist.

"Thanks." stated Ned.

Personally he favored strength but it was a good idea to come up with a plan to beat your opponents...especially if you happened to be in a Gym Battle.

Meanwhile...

Sarah entered the entrance building to the Lake of Rage.

What she didn't realize was that there were Team Shadow Grunts waiting to ambush Pokemon Trainers there.

One of them had an eye mask and the other didn't.

"Alright! Give us your money!" shouted the Team Shadow Grunt with the mask.

Sarah gasped.

"We're getting loads off of this!" shouted the other Team Shadow Grunt.

"Whoa!" shouted Sarah.

"Hahahah-wait a minute." said the masked Team Shadow Grunt

"She's one of ours!" shouted the other Team Shadow Grunt.

"Our apologies. Go right on ahead." spoke the grunt with the eye mask.

Sarah shrugged and went on ahead.

"By the way, why are you taking Pokemon Trainer's money? Our boss said that we were about to make loads of money soon." noted Sarah. Something about an evolution project?

"Totodile!" exclaimed Sarah's Totodile. Her trainer did have a point.

"That's just it! He's not paying us enough!" exclaimed the Team Shadow Grunt without the eye mask.

Sarah shrugged. She supposed that made sense.

She immediately went to the Lake Of Rage.

Surprisingly, things seemed rather calm. It didn't seem like there were angry water Pokemon around.

And no, there weren't Mankeys and Primeapes frolicking around either. It seemed that they were currently sleeping.

Perhaps someone should rename the lake.

For some strange reason, there only seemed to be Magikarp in the lake. There didn't seem to be any other types of fish Pokemon.

On the lighter side of things, it was rather easy to catch them. Magikarp didn't put much of a struggle when you snagged one with a fishing rod.

Well, now seemed like a good time to start practicing fishing.

She managed to catch a Magikarp.

Sarah smiled.

Wait, didn't Magikarp evolve into something?

She couldn't quite remember which Pokemon.

Maybe she would remember later.

Meanwhile, Jake decided to to test out his new Quilava.

It was fighting surprisingly well against Chuck.

"You really are taking this rematch seriously." noted Chuck.

Jake nodded.

Unfortunately, Primeape kept getting burned every time he attacked Quilava.

This led to him fainting.

Perhaps he should have tried using Rock Slide. That would have been super effective against Quilava given that he was a fire type.

Well, it was too late to do anything about it now.

Primeape fainted.

"Primeape..." murmured the fighting Pokemon.

Chuck sent out Machoke next.

However, he kept getting burned as well.

"Machoke!" shouted the fighting Pokemon.

And to make matters worse, Quilava hit him with Flame Wheel.

Machoke recoiled from the heat.

This gave Quilava an opening to strike.

He hit Machoke with Take Down.

Machoke collapsed on the ground. He too had fainted.

"Machoke..." murmured the fighting Pokemon. If he couldn't take the heat, maybe he should stay out of the kitchen.

Oh wait, he wasn't in a kitchen, he was in a gym.

So far, things seemed to be going good for Jake. His Quilava alone had taken down two of Chuck's Pokemon.

However, he knew that the next Pokemon was going to be Poliwrath.

He knew it was a bad idea to send out Quilava against a water type.

So, he withdrew Quilava.

His next Pokemon would be one that had a type advantage.

That Pokemon happened to be Vileplume. And yes, he was using a Pokemon that he had caught quite some time ago.

"Vileplume!" shouted Jake's Vileplume.

However, even with the type advantage, she might have a rough time against Poliwrath.

Still, it was worth a shot, right?

Vileplume opened up using Stun Spore.

Poliwrath couldn't move.

She then followed with Mega Drain.

"Poliwrath!" exclaimed the water Pokemon. That attack hurt despite Oddish's small size.

However, he retaliated using Surf.

Oddish was swept away.

"Oddish!" shouted the grass Pokemon.

However, she was still standing.

She hit Poliwrath with another Mega Drain.

However, Poliwrath punched Oddish and sent her flying.

She fainted.

"Oddish..." murmured the grass Pokemon. It was times like this when she wished that she was a heavyweight instead of a lightweight.

Well, now it was time to send out Golbat.

"Golbat!" shouted the flying Pokemon.

Jake noticed that Golbat seemed particularly happy.

He wondered why.

He had Golbat use Air Cutter.

However, Poliwrath countered using Surf.

For a moment, it looked as if Golbat was down for the count. He had taken a critical hit.

However, he suddenly began to evolve.

"Huh?" asked Jake.

Golbat was now a Crobat.

"I wonder why you turned purple..." questioned Jake.

Well, he decided not to question it. Crobat looked strong.

Jake scanned Crobat with his Pokedex.

"Crobat, the Bat Pokemon. The development of wings on its legs enable it to fly fast, but it also makes it difficult to stop and rest." said Jake's Pokedex.

Unfortunately for Poliwrath, this meant that Crobat was now too fast for him to handle.

Crobat bit into Poliwrath with Poison Fang.

"Poliwrath..." said Poliwrath.

He swung his fists at Crobat, but to no avail.

Poliwrath eventually fainted.

"Fantastic! You won this time!" cheered Chuck. Personally he was hoping that Jake would win. He seemed to be working hard, much as he did.

Jake smiled.

He received his Storm Badge.

No doubt Lucy would be happy to hear the news.

Speaking of which, she was probably challenging the Gym Leader.

Her name was Jasmine, was it not?

Hopefully Ampharos would feel better after receiving the medicine.

That lighthouse was kind of important.

It would probably be a bad idea for him to use Crobat against the gym leader there though.

Something told him that Jasmine specialized in Steel Type Pokemon.

Quilava would probably do well though. Last time he checked, steel Pokemon were weak against fire types.

He decided to head back to Olivine City.

However, Jake couldn't help but shake the feeling that Team Shadow was up to something big.

Something that was a lot bigger than their operation in Azalea Town.

Perhaps he should be worried.

Well, if his hunch happened to be right, he would try to stop them.

Our heroes will be facing Jasmine rather soon. There's been kind of a delay but rest assured our heroes will fight her. She might not be the most confident Gym Leader in the world but that doesn't mean she can't put up a fight. Have you seen that Steelix?

Remember Jake's Vileplume? He used it during the Pokemon tournament. And yes, she has an awful big flower on her head.