Chapter Thirty Seven:

'What has Ash gotten himself into?' Gary hissed to Misty, as he watched Aggron and Torterra fight, 'He should just forfeit now, go train and come back later.'

'Shut up Gary,' Max insisted, 'Ash can do this. He won't let himself lose now, not after all the faith he's put in his Pokémon.'

'I don't think he's willing to give this up,' Misty said shaking her head, her turquoise eyes narrowed in concern.'

'Still don't know what the hell Trip did to him in Unova, but finding out how much he destroyed Perry last night... I don't think Ash is willing to lose to anyone that Trip thrashed so dramatically,' Brock muttered, seeming to agree with Misty.

'He didn't tell you about that?' Gary asked in surprise, turning around to face the rest of the travelling group.

'You know?!' all of them asked sharply, turning to face Ash's old rival.

'...Didn't any of you watch the Unova League?' Gary replied in shock.

'Gary,' Dawn began hesitantly, 'Ash dropped completely out of contact with all of us when he was in Unova. After a week or two he disappeared off the face of the planet. Brock and I wanted to visit him once or twice, make sure he was okay, or well alive. We e-mailed him constantly, trying to tell him that we got some time and were considering come to Unova... he never replied. He just disappeared and we didn't hear from him, and seeing as it usually takes him a year to go through a league, none of us realised he'd be in this year's tournament.'

'Oh...' Gary said, clearly shocked, it really didn't sound like Ash like behaviour, this group of people meant everything to him, why would he have dropped out of contact with them?

'None of us would've known Ash was back in the country if his mother hadn't been calling us to beg us to come snap him out of his little miserable state,' May added, 'Half of us were in different regions though, or weeks away by travel so there wasn't much we could do, even Misty was a few days away. Until his mother finally made him find another journey he wouldn't even pick up the phone when we called him.'

'...I didn't think the loss was that bad I mean really,' Gary began, before trailing off slightly, '... except that part.'

'What are you talking about Gary?' Misty asked demanded, shaking his shoulder forcefully.

'Ignore me, really, it's nothing. Ash will tell you when he's comfortable,' Gary said hastily, knowing that Misty wasn't going to drop it but was suddenly saved as everyone saw much to their surprise, Torterra on its back.

'Torterra!' Ash's pained cry echoed through the cave.

'Ash! Switch it out! Now!' Misty yelled, already on her feet yelling, practically being forced to get held back by Brock.

They head an almost growl escape through Ash's teeth as it was clear Torterra was in a very risky position. But despite Misty's wild calls, he already had a different idea, and he was determined to try it out. Perry had hit a low blow when he'd indicated Ash didn't know how to handle Torterra, especially seeing as he for a moment had almost wondered if it was true. Ash would do anything to prove Perry wrong about that, his pride as a trainer depended on it, which had given Ash one last idea.

'Torterra, focus your energy into the branches of your tree,' Ash called out forcefully, and it was clear already that Torterra was doing exactly what its trainer told it, 'Focus that energy as hard as you can, gather it into the branches, not the leaves, focus on that.'

Perry had been half way through calling his final attack when he froze, trying to figure out what Ash was up to. Completely distracted, watching him, brown eyes wide and curious, attention completely drawn as was Perry's Aggron.

Everyone else was confused as hell, they'd never seen Ash talk like this before. There was a very peculiar look spread across his face, one they'd only seen once or twice. It was the look of complete and utter determination and stubbornness, mixed with faith and rage that they only saw just before he pulled out some of his craziest stunts that no one but Ash could think of.

The only one seeming to know quite what was going on was Torterra, who was following its trainers instructions. The look on the Pokémon's face was a near mirror image of Ash, as the tree on its back was starting to radiate a strange light. Its eyes widened suddenly as it realised what was going on, as its tree no longer bent under its weight, rather straightened back into place, and at its precarious angle, actually gave it some leverage to get clumsily back onto its feet.

Perry realising what had happened got half way through his call of, 'Shadow Cl-' before Torterra reacted.

The entire, humongous bulk of the Pokémon charged forward, and tree first it collided straight into Aggron. And in one last humongous blow, Aggron tottered back, fainting before their eyes. Nixie's entire body was shaking as she raised the flag on Ash's side to indicate the win, not even being sure enough of what had happened herself to call the winner. Ash and Perry seemed to be at an understanding of what had happened, but both still looked extremely confused.

'Ash...' Dawn called out, seeming to have realised something, remembering a similar looking move in the battle at Snowpoint City Gym, 'Was that... was that a Wood Hammer?'

'Apparently,' Ash replied, seeming just as stunned that it had actually worked.

'I didn't realise Torterra knew Wood Hammer...' Gary remarked, slightly confused, having spent a lot of time with Ash's Pokémon while staying at his Grandfather's ranch.

'It didn't,' Ash replied simply, the look on his face borderline awkward yet thrilled.

There was a massive pause before Brock finally responded, only one capable of saying it out loud, 'You taught it Wood Hammer in the middle of the battle?'

'Noctowl learned Confusion in the middle of battling Morty in Ecruteak, I didn't see why I couldn't generate the same principle on purpose,' Ash admitted shakily, '...I didn't think it would work... but apparently it-'

'Don't you dare try that again Ash Ketchum! You are so lucky that even worked!' Misty snapped loudly, clearly showing just how nervous that situation had made her.

'Oh like I'm that stupid,' Ash sighed, before turning back to the field to see Perry selecting his next Pokéball, a bitter look on his face.

'Solrock! I choose you!'

The large sun shaped Pokémon appeared, hovering slightly above the ground. Large orange, stone body with spindles of cream rock coming out at all angles. Its haunting red eyes were glowing eerily and even though it was a rather fascinating and exotic looking Pokémon, it was almost unnerving.

Ash seemed unfazed having encountered them before and he was ready to take on this challenge. But all of his travelling companions but Drew and May looked slightly put off. Either not used to seeing a Solrock, or realising there was just something a little different about this one. The Hoenn Coordinators however both leaned forward eagerly, looking extremely interested.

May owned a Solrock herself, and despite the unusual aura this one radiated, she was looking forward to using this opportunity to her advantage. Sure that a Carinthia trained Pokémon could help her come up with some new coordinator techniques. Something Drew undoubtably was going to try to recreate with his Lunatone.

'Torterra, you think you can stay in?' Ash asked of the continent Pokémon, knowing it had several moves that would definitely be at use here.

The weary but determined Pokémon growled in confirmation, ready to go, its sense of pride as a powerful battler all too clear as it prepared for what Solrock could dish out, 'Solrock, use Psychic and lift it high!'

Ash watched as the bulky Pokémon was lifted into the air, bumping into the ceiling as it was surrounded with blue aura, but as Perry snapped his fingers and Torterra was dropped Ash made another call, 'Use the acceleration, go straight into Iron Head!'

Glowing in silver light, Torterra collided with Solrock, with a deafening crunch. The forceful impact caused Solrock to spin like a top. Solrock's droned out its cry seeming to have taken being hit way more personally than a Pokémon usually seemed to even as Perry made his next call.

'Use Flamethrower while its close Solrock!' Opening its tiny mouth, a large billowing of fire erupted out, dangerously smouldering against Torterra's leaves.

'Counter with Energy Ball,' the jolt of emerald light spun through the flames, socking Solrock right in the mouth, as Ash made another call of, 'Now clamp on and throw it!'

Torterra's bite attack easily latched onto one of the spindly pillars of rock that protruded from Solrock's body. Before exactly as Ash had intended, it threw Solrock through the air, turning its levitate ability against it. Torterra clearly had shaken the dual psychic type as it eventually regained its hovering place. But before Perry could even make a call, Solrock was on the move, appearing and disappearing with lightning speed before it slammed directly into Torterra, which caused it to howl in pain. And almost automatically Perry stuck out his arm and withdrew it looking annoyed, hissing something to its Pokéball. He went to reach for another Pokéball, when out of no where Torterra fell flat on its face onto the ground.

'Torterra!' Ash called out in alarm but it was too late, he didn't even know what the attack was and it had knocked out his first Pokémon of the match.

'Torterra is unable to battle, Perry you told me you wouldn't put Solrock in another match until you taught it to listen to you,' Nixie lectured, her irratance at the uncalled attack all too clear.

'Well I wasn't going to Nixie, I was just training with it, not battling. Although after last night I had to shuffle my party unexpectedly and I was hoping it wouldn't be too bad. Stop having a hissy fit, I was planning on calling for Acrobatics anyway,' Perry replied, seeming pissed, but instantly took a deep breath and pulled out another selection, throwing it onto the field, 'Archeops, I choose you!'

The pre-historic parrot exploded in a puff of feathers from its ball, circling like a vulture through the air as it readied itself for its opponent. It was one of the most colourful rock type Pokémon there was, and take out its crazy eyes and peculiarly shaped jaw, it was the hardest to tell its typing at a glance. It slashed its tail and cawed loudly as it circled the field, clearly more than ready, it was completely pumped for this battle.

Ash was hesitating, internally listing what he could try. This was one of the Pokémon he hadn't known about, so he couldn't have specifically prepared for it. He had two Pokémon that were fresh for battle, including the one he had selected specifically for Tyranitar when Perry eventually sent it out. One Pokémon had fainted and the other three had already fought and been weakened against Aggron and Kabutops earlier. He could go send in one of them now, hope they were well-rested enough. He would like to see Staraptor face this thing, an aerial battle was something he always enjoyed, but in the end he changed his mind and sent his next choice onto the field.

'Tauros! I choose you!'

He could hear his friends chattering behind him as the leader of the stampede he owned landed on the field, pawing the ground. Ash hadn't used anyone from the herd of Tauros since the battle frontier and he thought it was about time that he corrected it. Knowing it was the right choice as the wild bull Pokémon whipped its back with its tail to pump it up. Perry seemed to nod slightly, this clearly was an unusual choice for his gym. He presumed it probably because rock types resisted normal type attacks.

Ash flipped his Pokédex back open, scrolling down the list of Tauros's move. A smirk coming across his face as he realised how much work Tauros would have put in to learn so many new moves. He couldn't wait to see how much the battle style was going to change. This, was going to be a fun one.

'Archeops! Use Steal Wing,' Perry called out.

The clawed, yellow and blue wings started glowing silver and in a barrel rolling attack Archeops streaked towards Tauros. Ash frowned, preparing, waiting and at the right moment he called out:

'Pivot then Stomp.'

Tauros back hooves swung off the ground and clashed directly with Archeops, sending the first bird Pokémon, flying into the cave wall. Ash couldn't help but allow the childish smile to cross his face as he realised just how powerful his Tauros was. Even if he knew it would look strange to someone who'd just had a Pokémon thrown into a wall, he couldn't help the smile. The parrot-like bird managed to shake off the attack, but Ash could only guess it was because of its natural rock type defence as it began to circle through the air again.

'Archeops, use Stone Edge,' came Perry's next call, but Ash having finally managed to get into the right state of mind, had a way to use that to his advantage.

'Use your own Stone Edge Tauros,' Ash instructed, anticipating exactly what was going to happen.

The two spinning boulder attacks crashed into one another, and just like he'd anticipated, the rocks crumbled creating a dust cloud. It was falling quickly but it was how Ash utilised it that was the important thing. Perry's confusion with Ash's choice was still distracting his opponent, and this was his turn to start getting a step ahead, unlike being a step behind like he'd been most of this battle.

'Zen Headbutt,' he said low enough for only Tauros to hear him.

Tauros charged forward with the full force only a Pokémon of its nature could have accomplished, accelerated glowing bright blue into the dust cloud. He heard Archeops cry out but it wasn't the sound of pain, as it was followed by a mirrored moan from Tauros. When the dust cleared he saw Tauros buckled stance, and realised that Archeops had to have hit it with something that Ash hadn't noticed

'Use Aqua Tail again,' Perry commanded and the spiky-feathered tail struck Tauros once again.

Ash gritted his teeth, berating himself for thinking that Perry was going to not have something planned, he was a Carinthia and Archeops was a powerful Pokémon, 'Horn attack Tauros!'

Catching Archeops's tail in its horns, it swung it forcefully, and even as the prehistoric Pokémon stopped itself from barrelling into the wall, it was struck forcefully as Ash called for another Stone Edge. Perry clearly was getting annoyed at Tauros as his usually calm exterior was trembling with a clearly contained temper. Ash was making some serious ground against the young trainer.

'Archeops, use Focus Blast.'

'Tauros, double team to dodge,' Ash called out, knowing that any advantage he'd gained would be destroyed if he let the attack hit.

Blue light plunged through an illusion Tauros as Ash gained another idea, 'Power up for a Solarbeam.'

Perry's eyes flared dramatically as he realised what was happening, as all the copies of Tauros all seemed to be preparing to attack, 'Archeops, you can't let this hit, circle using Steel Wing until you find the real one.

Archeops glided along, slightly hampered from the damage it had already taken, striking illusion after illusion as it tried to find its potential attacker. It eventually found the original, striking the real one hard in the spine, but Tauros as stubborn as ever still released the intense beam of light. The rumble that echoed through the cave was intense as they result of the attack was left unknown in the blinding light. But to Ash's irratance and Perry's relief, Archeops had survived the hit.

'Okay Archeops good job, now use Sky Attack!'

Ash couldn't help but think bitterly if it wasn't for its flying typing there was no way it would have survived the attack, though he didn't have time to consider it as Archeops was already descending towards it in a burst of flames, 'Attack straight on Tauros, use Zen Headbutt.'

Light clashed with flames as they collided with one another, another jolt ran out through the field and as the light subsided, leaving the result all too clear as Perry's expression dropped and Ash's heart swelled, 'Archeops is unable to battle the round goes to Tauros, as the gym leader has lost three of his Pokémon there'll be a short fifteen minute break for Pokémon trainers to regroup.'

Ash couldn't help but feel relieved, he'd done it. For the first time since he'd gotten here, he'd made the gym leader become the one to lose half his party. This was progress. He ran to the bull-Pokémon, hugging it around the neck filled with pride. He quickly moved off to the room where he would spend the next little while planning. Misty and Brock went to go coach him as they usually would, and much to their surprise, Gary got up to come with them.

Nothing their look Gary shrugged slightly, 'Ash's finally in the right headspace for this gym, but unless he wants to lose he's going to have to play it a lot smarter. I've got an idea or two, and I'm determined for Ash to get this next badge.'

So after all this time, I am able to update, the exam block nearly killed me, but its over, so I can go back to what I do best, writing. Thanks so much for the support I got on the last chapter, 10 of you reviewed and this story has now hit 23,000 views, and at 25,000, I think I might do another little competition.

Ash is finally gaining some ground in this gym, he's in a good state of mind and with Gary's help, he might just be able to win this. But what does Gary know that the travelling companions don't? And will Ash be able to pull this off with only one fresh Pokémon left? And just who is that Pokémon? The rest of the battle will take about two chapters I'm hoping, so you'll see soon enough.

To my lovely reviewers, I definitely have to thank you all:

Cottonmouth25: I'm glad you like how I'm portraying Paul. I love those Pokémon from Gen 6, I'm not sure about Swirlix, although I find it hilarious to look at, but my opinion on Chespin isn't set till I know what he evolves into. Personally I like the Mega-evolutions, but Pokémon Amie... not sure just how necessary it was in general. Thanks for the review!

Rioludoodle: I thought I'd do some throw backs so everyone could be reminded just how creative Pikachu can be, but at the same time how stupid it was that the writers didn't reuse the method. And Trip is a character who's constantly going to be reappearing all across the island journey, but when he appears again... I can't quite say. So pumped for gen-6 can't wait to be able to fight a sky battle like Ash had against Falkner and Flannery in the anime, it'll be great! I like Mega-evolutions, and it helps that they made a few of my favourite Pokémon more bad-ass than ever.

Chica36: Well, I guess that's how Ash is, endless confidence that comes back to bite him in the ass. I tried to incorporate some extra description into this chapter if that helps, it's just a little tricky to write these sort of scenes, because the pacing and description can sometimes be at odds with one another. Thanks for the support :D

Spidersndue: Why thank you, the battle scenes were so hard to write when I started out, but they're getting a lot easier. I think what Ash needs is a few blows to his ego, and Gary seems like the perfect person to do it, seeing as losing to Ash made him reevaluate his entire life, my main plan for the story is to make Ash mature and realise what he can and can't get away with, so hopefully this version of Ash becomes a less hated character for you over time. I wish I had seen an explanation like that before hand, but unfortunately his team is all planned out already, but definitely weigh in next time I ask the readers about a gym challenge team, it could really help. I'm not sure if Ash will be catching anything much, but I'm planning on getting Max to start to, so that's a good place to start. Sorry for the long review? The long reviews are amazing, please don't cut it out if you feel like you have a lot to say!

Amalgam24: It's not a bad thing to say, if he manages to win this one he's going to have to way more intensive training if he thinks for a second he's going to be able to take on anyone older then Perry, the other's are way more experienced and that's why Ash manages to keep winning for the most part, that and luck.

RalesMckoy:...I haven't seen some one write that laugh other than Team Rocket... That is amazing, though i really wonder how a laugh would sound like that. Will he come around? He seems to be working on it, but will he be able to pull it off at the last minute? And I like Mega-Pokémon personally, I think it's a good concept, I love quite a few of them, and the re-typing and additional abilities make them all the much better, I'm really considering bringing the mega-evolutions into the story.

IhateMarySue'ssoooomuch: Hm, will you be right or will you be wrong? Only I shall know. It was a bit of a risk to mega-evolve a legendary, but at the same time it just is going to destroy things just as much if not more than Mewtwo. I didn't realise until looking into Swirlix to find out that Australia is the only country that still calls it fairy floss. Thanks for the review :D

Kyndig: I understand, but at the same time its still a powerful trainer that she can look up to none the less, and Hydie will be a frequently occurring character that all three girls will be able to look up to. He's evening it out, but unless something changes, it could easily end up like that, it's not such a dramatic loss as you're spelling out, but either way a re-challenge is still in the cards.

Aussieking: Glad you like the re-writes and I'm thinking of changing how often I update to change it to longer chapters. It's a normal re-challenge area, if it wasn't I think even Ash would be way more careful. I love Mega-evolutions, and fairy typing is really interesting even if I can't incorporate it (I've spent way too much time emphasising 17 siblings) I think it's a good idea to balance out dragon types, just like dark types to balance out psychics. Team Flare look like the sassiest group yet, but they might surprise us, Game Freak has been making the themes progressively darker for the teams, so you never know. Thanks for the review as always.

Booklover20011010: Thanks so much, it'll be a lot of fun when it comes out, only problem is I'm yet to get a 3DS. I really can't wait to see all the new Pokémon, it's always the best part.

Thank you all my lovely reviewers, it means so much to have all of you constantly giving me your support and opinions so often, and the next chapter will be around soon enough!

The question of the chapter is something I'm curious about, what starter (Kanto and Kalos) will you be picking when it comes to Pokémon X and Y? Additionally, would you all prefer longer chapters (that logically will take a bit longer to write) or shorter more frequently updated chapters? The ones I do now are about 2-3 thousand words, so would you prefer 5-6, or what I have now?

So today I started a re-write of an old fanfiction, Dawnlight- A Sailor Moon Fic, if you're a fan of the series, or if you'd like to come out and show some support, please go check it out!

So see you all next time, the next instalment isn't too far away.

Review, Favourite, and Follow!

~Selina