Chapter 50
It took a while, but Ash and the others have finally arrived in Goldenrod City, where Ash, Serena and Leaf are supposed to have their fourth gym battle's in Johto Region, and if they win, they will be at the half way point toward Johto Region Silver Conference.
"We are finally here," Misty breathed out, after the group reached Goldenrod City, and are now walking toward the gym. "Is it just me, or did this take a lot longer than it usually does?"
"Well, we did make a lot of stops to train our Pokémon since there were quite few of them that joined us recently, and haven't had much training," Ash said.
"How long will we stay here?" Misty asked.
"I don't know, it depends on when we will have our gym battles," Ash replied. "Why do you ask?"
"Can we stay for a day or two after the battles to take a little rest," Misty asked? "If we don't count Leaf who as waiting for us in Azalea Town, we have been traveling for a while, and I'm tired. And I would also like to look around Goldenrod City, since there is a lot to see here."
"I don't have a problem with that," Ash replied. "What about the rest of you?"
"I'm fine with it," Serena said. "I would also like to explore Goldenrod City for a day, since it's the second biggest City I have ever been it, and as Misty said, there must be some good things to see here."
Brock and Leaf also agreed, and they decided to stay for a few days after they finish their gym battles.
Half an hour later, they were standing in front of the Goldenrod Gym, and saw a sign that said that the gym is closed, and will be reopened tomorrow.
"So much for finishing that battles as soon as possible," Brock said.
"I guess we were unlucky to arrive at the day the gym is closed," Ash said. "So, what are we going to do now?"
"I don't know," Brock said, and looked at Misty, Leaf and Serena. "What do you girls want to do?"
"I'm tired, so I want to go to the Pokémon Center and rest a little," Misty said.
"Maybe we should all rest today, have our battles tomorrow, and then a day after tomorrow, we can explore the City," Serena suggested.
"That's a good idea." Leaf agreed with Serena.
"What about you, Brock?" Ash asked.
"It's fine by me." Brock said.
"Ok then, you all can go in the Pokémon Center and rest, but I'm going to go around a little, as I don't feel like resting for now," Ash said.
"You sure about that, Ash?" Misty asked. "Aren't you tired at all?"
"No, not really." Ash said.
"OK then," Leaf said. "Will be waiting for you in the Pokémon Center. Don't be too late."
"I won't." Ash said, and Brock and four girls walked to find the Pokémon Center, while Ash went to the others side, to look around a little.
XXX
Ash walked around Goldenrod City for a while, looking at everything that caught his eye, for example Department store, where he bought a bunch of Poke Balls, as he was getting short on them, and some potions that he needs for small bruises and injuries for his Pokémon.
As he was walking back toward the main street, a Clefairy run straight into him when she took a turn from the main street into the one where Ash was coming from.
When Clefairy run into Ash, she bounced from him, and fell down on the ground.
"What the..." Ash said after he felt something slam into his legs, and then looked down, and saw Clefairy lying on the ground where she must have bounced of off him.
Ash then kneeled down in front of Clefairy, and helped her stand up. "Sorry about that, Clefairy," Ash said, after he helped her. "I guess I wasn't looking where I was going."
"I'm sorry, it was me who wasn't looking." Clefairy apologized as well, not really expecting Ash to understand her.
"Don't worry about that," Ash said with a smile. "It was an accident, so think of it like we are both a little guilty. Ok."
Before Clefairy can ask if he understood her, a girl's voice was heard calling from the main street, and when Ash looked up from his kneeling position, it was right when the girl took a turn and run straight at him.
"Ouch, what the hell was that," the girl wined few seconds later from where she was lying? "Did I hit in the wall or something?"
"Not exactly." She heard a voice say from under her, and she lifted her head up, and rose into a sitting position, and then she saw a boy around her age or a little younger, right below her, and she realized she was sitting on top of him.
"Not that I mind having a beautiful girl like you on top of me," Ash said after he saw the girl not getting up from him, as she seemed lost in her thought. "But maybe you should have introduced yourself first, and then jump on me."
Just then after she heard him say that, did the girl realized where she was and on what she was sitting, and quickly jumped up and away from Ash, and started breathing hard, while her face looked like it was about to catch on fire because of how much she was blushing.
"S-S-S-Sorry about t-t-that," the girl stuttered heavily. "I-I wasn't looking where I w-was going."
Ash stood up, and dusted himself of a little. "Don't worry about it," Ash said. "I have no problem stopping the fall of such a lovely girl."
She blushed even more, and looked down on the ground, while Ash smirked.
She was pulled back by Clefairy, who pulled a little on her shorts to get her attention, and the girl looked to the side, and saw her Pokémon.
"Clefairy," the girl said confused, but then she remembered. "On my god, Clefairy, are you all right? Don't just run away from me like that."
She was yelling at, and checking out her Pokémon to see if she was all right, and if she was hurt.
"Don't worry, Clefairy is fine," Ash said, and brought back her attention. "She is a strong Pokémon, and can't be taken down just by slamming into someone. Right, Clefairy?"
"That's right," Clefairy said. "I'm tough."
"Hahaha," Ash laughed at what Clefairy said, making the girl look between the two. "You sure are."
"Anyway," the girl said after Ash stopped laughing, and didn't really notice that Ash appears to have understood what Clefairy said. "Who are you?"
Ash then looked at her, with slightly narrowed eyes that seemed to look right in the girl's soul, and it made her blush again under his stare.
"My name is Ash," Ash said, and raised his hand for a handshake. "And you are?"
"My name is Whitney," the girl said, and took Ash's hand. "It a pleasure to meet you."
Ash then raised her hand up towards his lips, and kissed the back of it. "The pleasure is all mine, Whitney."
Whitney blushed, again, at Ash's words and action, and Ash smirked at how easily it was to make her blush. "This girl is so cute when she blushes," Ash thought. "I think I might have found myself and new girlfriend. Just hope the other girls don't neuter me."
"So, Whitney, tell me something more about yourself," Ash suddenly said. "I'm quite interested in getting to know you better."
"Oh, well," Whitney said, not really knowing what to say, as she was cut off guard, and Ash seems to know just what to say and do to make her blush and almost lose her mind. "Well, as I said, my name is Whitney, I'm from Goldenrod City, and I'm a gym leader in the Goldenrod Gym."
Ash raised an eyebrow after he heard that Whitney is a gym leader, and then decided to tease her a little.
"Well, Whitney," Ash said, as he took Whitney's right hand and placed it between his palms, while he also approached her very closely, and looked he straight in the eyes. "Would you believe me if I told you that you are just the girl, I have been looking for a while?"
"I, uh," Whitney tried to say something, but words just wouldn't leave her lips, as her face was burning up, and steam was coming from her ears at Ash's closeness, which is so close that his lips were just two inches from hers, and if he wanted to, he could kiss her, and she wouldn't be able to do anything against it.
"Yeah, I have been searching for you ever since I left Azalea Gym," Ash pulled his face back a little, and said with a straight face, and then watched Whitney's reaction, which didn't disappoint him.
Whitney just stood there watching at Ash, or nothing, no one knew, and seemed to be lost in her mind, as she didn't know how to react at what Ash just did.
She was finally brought back to reality after Ash started laughing again.
"Hahaha, you should see the look on your face right now," Ash said. "It's priceless."
"Damn you," Whitney said with as much anger as she could muster shown on her face. Though it more looked like a pout. "Why did you do that?"
"Do you really want to know?" Ash asked, with narrowed eyes to make it look a little bit scary, and to test if she will have the guts to pursue the answer.
"Yes, I do." Whitney replied right away, while wearing a hard look on her face.
"I have developed a need of a sort, to tease cute girls, and girls who blush easily," Ash replied with a straight face, and Whitney glared at him.
"What," Whitney yelled! "Are you serious? All this was teasing."
"Yes," Ash replied, and her glare intensified. "But every word I said was true. I didn't lie about a single thing."
"What are you saying," Whitney asked? "Your words and actions led me believe you like me."
"Well, I do like you," Ash said. "But what I said was, that I was looking for you for a while, which is the truth. You just assumed I meant it romantically."
"And what else was I supposed to think, when your face was right in front of mine?" Whitney asked.
"Like I said, I was teasing you," Ash said, and then smirked. "You wouldn't happen to be angry at me because you were expecting me to kiss you, and I didn't?"
"What," Whitney yelled, and the blush returned again, and she backed away towards the wall. "No, I wasn't expecting that."
"You might have been able to convince normal person, Whitney," Ash said, while he was approaching towards Whitney, who was now backed to the wall, and had nowhere else to go. "But I'm not normal person, and I can read you like an open book."
Ash then stood right in front of her, and Whitney couldn't move at all because she was right in between the wall, and Ash, whose face was right in front of hers again.
"A-Ash don't d-do this to me, please." Whitney stuttered out, trying to get Ash to stop teasing her, though her mind and her perverted side, which she didn't even know she had, was screaming at her to let it go, and kiss the lights out of Ash.
"What was that," Ash asked her, with his face even closer to her, and his lips just about to meet hers. "You don't want me to kiss you."
"I-I..." Whitney tried to say no, but just couldn't.
"Come one, tell me you don't want me to kiss you, and I'll back away," Ash said, this time right in her ear, and his hot breath made her get goosebumps.
"I-I..." Whitney tried to say something, but then changed her mind, gained some confidence, and sent it all to hell. "Kiss me!"
As soon as Whitney said that Ash's lips met hers, and she found herself in heaven, as she was experiencing something she never did before, and liked it very much.
The kiss lasted for a while, and during that time, Ash's hands wondered to the lower half of Whitney's back, and pulled her closer to himself, and Whitney's arms hugged Ash around his neck, and deepened the kiss.
A little over a minute later, Whitney pulled back from the kiss, and was breathing hard, and looked like she was out of breath, though her face was all red, and she seemed to have enjoyed the kiss.
"How was that?' Ash asked her, while looking at Whitney's blushing face.
"That was great," Whitney said after she caught her breath. "But how are you so good at this? You are even younger them me."
"I've had a lot of practice." Ash replied, and Whitney glared at him.
"I don't know if I should be angry because of that, or happy." She said.
"If you are going to be angry at me because of that," Ash started saying, and Whitney looked at him, waiting to hear what he will say. "Then you are going to set me on fire because of what I'm going to tell you next."
"What are you talking about?" Whitney asked with narrowed eyes.
"I already have four girlfriends." Ash said, and waited for Whitney to blow her top, but it never came, as she didn't know what to say or do after she heard what Ash said, so went with a simple question.
"What?" Whitney asked.
"I said I have four girlfriends." Ash said again.
"B-But why did you do this to me if you have four girlfriends," Whitney asked? "And how can you have four girlfriends and still be alive?"
"Ha," Ash looked at her surprised by the second question. "What do you mean?"
"How can you be with four girls at the same time, without them finding out, and end up killing you,' Whitney asked. "Or at least neuter you."
"Ah, so that's what you meant," Ash smirked. "Well, that easy. They all know about each other. In fact, they were the ones who agreed to share me. I didn't have any say on the matter."
"You have got to be kidding me." Whitney said, not even knowing how to react to that.
"I'm not kidding," Ash replied. "They really did agree to share me. As for why I kiss you if I already have four girlfriends? Well, even though we just met, I like you, and I couldn't help myself."
Whitney glared at him, and said. "You really should be neutered."
"If I ever get neutered, it won't be from my girlfriends, because they expect far too much from me in the future to do that to me," Ash said. "I assume you know what they expect."
Whitney blushed again, and mumbled. "I know."
There was a silence for a minute, and then Whitney asked. "So, what now?"
"Well, as I said, I really like you," Ash said, and Whitney smiled a little. "But there are two problems."
"One is your other girlfriends," Whitney said. "So, what's the other?"
"One is that we know nothing about each other," Ash said, and Whitney realized he is right. They have just met like 15 minutes ago, and besides each other's name, they knew nothing about one another.
"Well, I know he is a good kisser." Whitney thought.
"And the second is, that even though I like you, my other girlfriends also have to like you. It's some sort of agreement they have. They will only allow another girl to be with me if they like her." Ash said.
"When you say 'like', what exactly do you mean?" Whitney asked just to be sure, because there are a different kind of like's when it comes to one person liking the other.
"I mean 'like you', like a person," Ash replied, but then thought of something. "Well, maybe Misty, Cynthia and Diantha, but I'm not sure about Leaf."
"Why wouldn't she like me?" Whitney asked.
"Oh no, you misunderstood," Ash said, and Whitney raised her eyebrow. "Misty, Cynthia and Diantha have to like you as a person and as a friend to accept you. But Leaf, might end up liking you in the other way, if you know what I mean."
"You can't mean that she's," Whitney said with a wide eyes.
"I'm not sure," Ash said. "But I think that she might be a bisexual."
Whitney blushed like never before at Ash's words that one of his girlfriends might be bisexual, and because of the images that appeared in her mind, which included Ash and Whitney completely naked and covered in sweat, in bed with a girl with no face, since she didn't know how Leaf looks like.
"That blush can only mean that you ended up imagining something very perverted," Ash said with a smirk, and Whitney barely controlled herself not to pass out from embarrassment.
"You know what," Ash said. "Let's leave things as they are now, and we'll see what happens when you meet Misty and Leaf, who are in the Pokémon Center here in Goldenrod City."
"They are here." Whitney asked surprised.
"Yeah," Ash replied. "The three of us, along with another girl called Serena, and a guy called Brock are traveling together. "Serena, Leaf and I are actually here to challenge the Goldenrod Gym, but after we saw the sign that it was closed for the day, the others went to the Pokémon Center, and I decided to look around a little. Which was a good decision on my part, because I wouldn't have met you like I did."
"So, are you going to go back in the Pokémon Center now, or are you going to continue to look around?" Whitney asked.
"I actually thought about going back," Ash said. "But I think I'll look around a little more, if you are going to join me."
"Are you asking me on a date?" Whitney asked with a smirk.
"If you want it to be." Ash replied.
"Ok then, let's go," Whitney said, and took Ash hand, and after she returned Clefairy in the Poke Ball so she won't escape again, they went on a date.
XXX
Ash spent the rest of the day being dragged around Goldenrod City by Whitney, who seemed tireless, but also had very bad sense of direction, since they ended up lost more the one time.
They ended up visiting Goldenrod Game Corner where they played some games, in which Whitney ended up sweeping the floor with Ash, who was not very good at that. After that, they went to check Radio Tower, but could only see it from the outside, since they were not allowed in.
Then Ash bought them some Ice Cream, and they set in the park for a while, after which they went to the Goldenrod Tunnel, where they spent most of the date, looking at many shops there.
Near the end of the date, when they noticed that it was already late, and the day was over, Ash made one last stop at the flower shop, where he bought four bouquet of roses for Misty, Leaf, Serena and Whitney. He gave Whitney hers right away, and she gave him a kiss as thanks, while he took the others with him, and will give them to the other girls in the Pokémon Center.
Which is exactly where Ash headed after they left the flower shop, and he walked Whitney to her house, where she stayed, after they agreed to meet again tomorrow after breakfast when Ash and the others come for the gym battles.
XXX
Ash arrived in the Pokémon Center about half an hour after he left Whitney at her house, and by the time he got there, it was already dinner time.
"Hello, Nurse Joy," Ash said as he approached to the reception desk.
"Hello young man," Nurse Joy said. "How can I help you?"
"Some of my friends have arrived here earlier today, and I was wondering if you can tell me their rooms," Ash asked. "Their names are Misty, Serena, Leaf and Brock."
"Of course," Nurse Joy replied, and looked at her computer for the room numbers, and found then few seconds later. "They are in rooms 53 and 54. But now that I think about it, I think they went to the cafeteria some time ago for a dinner."
"Thanks' Nurse Joy," Ash said, and walked away to the cafeteria.
Ash walked into the cafeteria, and spotted his friends and girlfriends sitting by one of the tables, eating dinner, so he walked toward them.
"Hey guys, what's up?" Ash asked after he got to the table, and set down on the empty chair.
"Ash," Misty said startled after he just appeared like that, and set down next to her! "Where have you been all afternoon?"
"Oh, I've been going around Goldenrod City," Ash replied. "I didn't feel like spending time here."
"What's with those bouquet of roses?" Leaf asked.
"Oh, right," Ash said, suddenly remembering about the roses he was carrying in his right hand. "These are for you."
Ash then gave three bouquets to the three girls, and they looked at his strangely.
"You bought each of us a dozen roses," Misty said, making it like a question.
"Yeah," Ash said. "Don't you like them?"
"What, no, no, I like them," Misty said quickly. "I'm just surprised, that's all."
"Why are you surprised?" Ash asked.
"Well, you never bought us flowers until now, and I wasn't expecting it." Misty said.
"I didn't buy you flowers until now, because we are always traveling, and it would be a bother to carry them around," Ash said. "I could buy you something else, but I guess nothing comes to my mind. I must get to know you a lot better to be able to buy you something that you will like, and not something that you will just pretend to like."
"The roses are a good start," Leaf said with a smile, while smelling the flowers, just like Misty and Serena did, and they all like the smell.
"But why did you buy them to me," Serena asked, and the lowered her head a little, and blushed? "I'm not your girlfriend."
"Not yet at least," Ash mumbled under his breath, thinking he said it in his head, but it was out loud, and everyone heard him, and Brock almost choked on the water he was drinking at that moment.
"W-What?" Serena stuttered, now blushing crimson.
"What," Ash asked looking at her, and he saw her shocked face, and her surface thoughts, and realized what he did. "I said it out loud, didn't I?"
"Yes," Leaf said with a sly smirk. "Yes, you did."
Ash looked at Serena for a few moments, seeing her blushing under his stare, and then said.
"Oh, what the hell," he said. "Listen Serena, I know you like me. I knew it since the moment I looked you in the eyes back at the Viridian City airport."
"B-But how?" Serena asked, not believing Ash knew she was in love with him all this time.
"I read your thoughts." Ash said, and while Serena didn't know what to say, and Leaf and Brock didn't care that Ash can read their thought, as they already kind of knew he can do that, Misty bristled in anger.
"Are you telling me you are reading all of our minds?" Misty asked, thought as quietly as she could, as there are other people in the cafeteria, and didn't want to draw attention to them.
"Well, yes and no." Ash said.
"Explain!" Misty said.
"I can see your surface thought from time to time," Ash said. "That's what I can do. I can't read everything in your mind, I can only read what you are thinking at the precise moment. Like, in Serena's case when we met at the airport, she was thinking about me, and how she likes me, and I was able to read that, or how right now she fells embarrassed like never before, and wants to burry herself in some hole, and never come out."
No one said anything for a few minutes, thinking about what Ash said, until Misty said. "I want you to stop reading our minds. It's not right."
"Ok, I'll try," Ash said, but quickly added after he saw Misty's glare. "It's not like I'm trying to do it. Sometimes it's just a reflex."
"Try to control that reflex!" Misty said, and Ash nodded, but then Serena asked.
"If you knew I like you all this time, then why didn't you say something?"
"I guess I wanted to wait a little, until we get to know each other better," Ash said, and then mumbled under his breath, but was again heard. "Then again, I didn't think that today."
"What are you talking about?" Leaf asked.
"I met this girl today, while I was going around Goldenrod City," Ash said, and everyone on the table face faulted. "And she kind of ended up falling in love with me after I teased her a little too much."
"You have got to me kidding me," Misty said! "Another one. What the hell did you do to her?"
"Well, she ended up crushing into me, after her Pokémon crushed into me," Ash started explaining. "Then I couldn't help myself, and I started teasing her, and one thing led to another, so ten minutes later, she was asking me to kiss her, and I did."
"So, you just got yourself another girlfriend, just like that," Misty asked, a little angry, but deep down she knew that whoever that girl was, she won't be the last one to become Ash's girlfriend, and there was nothing she could do about it.
"Not exactly," Ash said, and got curious looks from everyone. "Technically, she is not my girlfriend yet, because I told her that we need to get to know each other better, and that even though I like her, the rest of my girlfriends have to like her as well, since that's the agreement the two of you, Cynthia and Diantha made. Or am I wrong?"
"No, you are not wrong," Misty said. "That is the agreement we made. But does that mean that if we don't like her, you will not be with her?"
"I don't know what my choice would be if you don't like her," Ash said. "But I don't think that you won't like her. In fact, I'm sure you all will. Leaf might only have to look at her once, and she will like her."
"What makes you say that?" Leaf asked, getting a weird feeling in her stomach.
"Remember how we teased Misty in the Pokémon Center in Azalea Town," Ash said, and Leaf nodded. "So, you remember what you said."
Leaf nodded again.
"Well, I know that what you said, you were not saying it only to tease Misty. You actually meant it, and are planning to go with it." Ash said, while wearing a large smile on his face, while Leaf was blushing like never before, and her face was even smoking.
"What are you talking about, Ash." Misty asked.
Ash looked at Misty, and then back at Leaf, and asked her. "Do you want to tell them?"
Leaf placed her palms over her face, and said nothing, as she was embarrassed like never before.
"They will find out eventually," Ash said. "So, you might as well tell them now. It's not like it's something bad."
"It might not be bad," Leaf said, after she rose her head, and looked at Ash. "But it's embarrassing."
"I actually think it's hot." Ash said, and Leaf's blush increased.
"Guys, what are you talking about?" Brock asked.
Ash looked at Leaf, waiting for her to say it, but after she didn't, as she was embarrassed, he decided to say. "Leaf, is bisexual. She like's both guys and girls."
As soon as he said that, several things happened.
First is, that Serena's and Misty's jaws dropped to the floor, and their eyes bulged out.
Second is that Brock got a huge nose bleed that made him fall from the chair, and pass out on the floor, while wearing stupid grin on his face.
As for Leaf, she again buried her face in her hands, and said nothing, as her entire face was burning up.
Ash was only smirking, not really paying attention to Brock being unconscious on the floor, as that already happened before, and he knew he will be ok.
Of course, other people in the cafeteria didn't know about that, so when they saw Brock fall in the floor, and blood flowing from his nose, some of them came to check him out, and some even called Nurse Joy.
"What happened," Nurse Joy asked after she ran to them because some people called her?
"You should calm down, Nurse Joy," Ash calmly said, that shocked Nurse Joy, and the people who were looking at them. "He will be all right."
"How can you say that," Nurse Joy yelled? "He has lost a lot of blood."
"This has happened before, Nurse Joy," Ash said. "And he is still with us, so I wouldn't worry about him."
"What happened?" Nurse Joy asked, while glaring at Ash.
Ash looked at Nurse Joy, and then sighed, and approached her, and whispered something in her ear.
After Ash backed away from her, he saw Nurse Joy has blushed deep crimson, and was looking at Leaf, who was also blushing like hell.
"Do you now understand what happened?" Ash asked, and Nurse Joy only nodded a little, while still looking at Leaf, as for the other people, they were confused.
"It's ok, everyone, you can return to your seats," Ash said to them. "Brock will be fine."
After he said that, the crowd went back to their seats, and cleared the space around Ash and the others, so he lifted Brock, and placed him on the chair, while Nurse Joy, who was no longer looking at Leaf, but was still blushing a little, was cleaning the blood from Brock, and trying to stop more from coming out.
When she finished cleaning the blood from Brock, Nurse Joy started leaving back to her post, but first looked at Leaf, and said with a sigh. "If you are only a few years older. We could have had so much fun."
Then she left, leaving behind smiling Ash, as well as, Leaf, Misty and Serena, who looked like they were heaving a stroke from what they just heard Nurse Joy say.
"I think you got yourself a fan, Leaf." Ash said, while grinning from ear to ear.
"Is she a l-l-lesbian?" Leaf stuttered.
"No, she's a bisexual." Ash said.
"And how do you know that?" Misty asked with narrowed eyes.
"I looked at her thoughts," Ash said, and seeing the look Misty gave him, he lifted his arms in surrender. "I just had to, there was no way I could not look after I saw how she was blushing and looking at Leaf."
Misty sighed, and decided to ask something else. "Ok, now that we know that Leaf is a bisexual," Misty said, with slight blush on her face. "And we know you probably got yourself another girlfriend, will you tell us what else you did today, and when are we going to go to the Goldenrod Gym, tomorrow?"
"Well, as I said before, I was going around the City, and Whitney just crushed into me while she was running after her Chansey," Ash said. "It turned out, that she is the Goldenrod City gym leader, and in the end, we agreed that she will wait for us in the morning after breakfast."
"Wait, wait, you say that Whitney crushed into you, then you teased her so much she fell for you, then she introduced herself as a gym leader, and then the two of you agreed to have battle's tomorrow," Misty said. "Did I sum that up right?"
"Yeah, that's pretty much it." Ash confirmed and Misty sighed.
"I swear to god, I don't think even Hollywood can make that stuff up," Misty said. "Because if they could, it would be a good movie."
"I bet it would," Ash said with a smile, while Misty huffed, and Serena and Leaf only watched them in amusement. Brock was still unconscious.
After that, they continued their dinner, and then left to their rooms, and Ash had to carry Brock, as he still didn't wake up even after more than half an hour after he passed out.
XXX
The next day, Ash and the other's got up from the bed at 8 o'clock, and started preparing for the day.
After breakfast, they all left Pokémon Center, and headed to the Goldenrod Gym, where they arrived around half an hour later, and found Whitney waiting for them inside.
"Hey Whitney, we are here." Ash said, after he and the others approached Whitney, and Ash kissed her on the cheek, making her blush a little.
"Hey Ash, glad you are here," Whitney said, and then looked at the others. "Hi, my name is Whitney. It's nice to meet you all."
Serena was the first to approach her, and shacked Whitney's hand. "Hi Whitney, I'm Serena, and I'm also glad to have met you. Ash told us about you yesterday, and we have been anxious to meet you."
"I hope he spoke nice things about me," Whitney said, while looking at Ash, and then Serena.
"He did say you are a nice girl and very beautiful," Serena said, and Whitney blushed. "And I see he was right."
"Well, thank you for that," Whitney said, and they introduced herself to Misty, Leaf, and Brock.
Both Whitney, and Leaf ended up blushing a lot while they talked to each other, as Whitney knew Leaf might be bisexual, and Leaf knew the Whitney knew, and was also very beautiful, which made her blush a little more.
"So, are we going to start this battle's or what?" Whitney asked, after the introductions were over.
"It fine by me," Ash said, and looked at Leaf and Serena. "Who will go first?"
"I'll go first," Serena said, and stepped forward.
"Great," Whitney said, and walked toward her side of the field, while Serena stood on the challenger's side.
At that time the referee came out from the other room, and started announcing the match, after he was told Serena's name.
"This is the official gym battle between the Goldenrod City gym leader, Whitney, and the challenger, Serena! This will be a three-on-three battle..." the referee was suddenly interrupted by Whitney, who apologized to him, and then said.
"Actually, why don't we change that a little," Whitney said, and everyone looked at her confused. "It will take a while to battle all three of you in three vs. three battle's, so I'm thinking about three double battles would be better, and quicker."
"I've got nothing against it," Serena said, from her spot on the field, and Ash and Leaf also agreed, so the referee changed the matches.
"The battle between Whitney and Serena will be Double Battle, and the trainer who first loses both of her Pokémon, loses the match! As a gym leader, Whitney choses her Pokémon first."
Whitney took two of her Poke Ball's, and threw them in the air. "Come out; Persian, Lickitung!" Whitney said, and her Pokémon came out of their Poke Balls' and stood on the field next to each other, ready to battle.
"So, it's Persian and Lickitung," Serena said to herself and thought about which Pokémon to choose, and after few moments of thinking, she took two Poke Ball's and released her Pokémon. Mareep, Houndour, I choose you!"
"Are you both ready?" The referee asked, and after he got two nods', he started the match. "BEGIN!"
"Lickitung, use Disable on Mareep!" Whitney started first. "Persian, you attack Mareep with Hyper Beam!"
Lickitung's eyes glowed light blue, and it released blue rings from its body at Mareep, who became unable to move.
Then, Persian followed right up, by opening its mouth and an orange ball appears in front of it. It then fired an orange beam from the ball at Mareep, who was unable to move.
"Houndour, use Flamethrower to counter Hyper Beam!" Serena said.
Houndour quickly fired a Flamethrower at the incoming Hyper Beam, and the two attacks collided, and after few moments, cancelled each other out.
"Now use Feint Attack on Lickitung!" Serena said again.
Houndour started running at Lickitung from the right side, and then vanished, only to appear on the left side, and tackled Lickitung, which then lost the hold on Mareep, who got free.
"Mareep, use Thunder Shock!" Serena called Mareep's first attack.
"Persian, use Power Gem to counter it," Whitney said.
Yellow sparks appeared around Mareep's ears and she then fired a blast of light blue electricity from her body at Persian, who countered it when the jewel on its forehead glowed red and it fired a pale pink beam of energy with a bright white energy around it from the jewel at the incoming blast of electricity.
The two attack's hit each other, and canceled one another like earlier, without doing any damage.
"Lickitung, use Wrap on Houndour, and toss her in the air!" Whitney called quickly trying to get some advantage in this match.
Lickitung shot its tongue at Houndour, and wrapped her in its long tongue, and then lifted her from the ground, and tossed her in the air, by swinging its tongue around, and then unwrapped it.
"Persian, Power Gem on Houndour," Whitney said, with a smile, as she knew Serena won't be able to counter this, since Houndour won't be able to dodge while falling down.
Serena also realized this, so instead of trying to save her Pokémon, which she knew she couldn't, she decided to make the best of it.
"Mareep, use Charge Beam at Lickitung!" Serena said, trying to go one for one.
Just as Persian fired another Power Gem attack at the falling Houndour, Mareep formed an orb of yellow electricity in front of her mouth and she fired a beam of yellow electricity from the orb at the Lickitung, who wasn't expecting that attack, just like Whitney didn't expect it, and while Houndour was hit by Persian's attack, Lickitung was hit by Mareep's attack, and both Pokémon were sent flying backwards, and collided with the walls that surrounded the field, above which there were bleachers.
"Both Lickitung and Houndour are unable to battle," the announcer said but didn't call the round or the match, as it was double battle, and there are still one Pokémon on each side, and both Serena and Whitney returned their Pokémon.
"I was not expecting that," Whitney said. "I really thought you will try something to save Houndour."
"Unfortunately, Houndour is still new in the team, and not trained so well to be able to evade an attack like that so, there was nothing I could do in this situation, but try to at least take out one of your Pokémon along with mine." Serena said.
"Nice decision" Whitney said. "It now leaves us both with one Pokémon."
After she said that, Whitney continued the battle. "Persian, use Slash!"
"Mareep, use Tackle!" Serena countered.
Persian ran at Mareep, and the jumped in the air, and its claws come out and they shined briefly, ready to slash Mareep, who ran at Persian, and tackled it, just before Persian could attack her.
Mareep's tackle sent Persian back on the ground, where it rolled around a little, until it stopped, close in front of Whitney.
"Mareep, use Charge Beam, again!" Serena said.
"Persian, counter with Hyper Beam!' Whitney said.
Both Pokémon fired their attack at the same time, and they then collided in the middle of the field, where they pushed at each other for a few seconds, until both attacks exploded, and sent shockwaves around the field, which sent both Pokémon stumbling backwards.
They both got up few seconds later, and were both breathing hard, and had a little sweat rolling down their faces from exhaustion, as they have both used quite a few powerful attack's, and their power is not limitless.
"It seems they are close to their limits," Whitney said, and Serena agreed. "Let's finish this, then. Persian, use Fake Out!"
"Mareep, use Thunder Shock as soon as Persian is close enough!" Serena said.
Persian run up at the Mareep, who's ears got surrounded with electricity, and clapped its paws together. When it clapped them, a large shockwave of air come out of them and pushed Mareep backwards, but at the same time Persian clapped it's paws, Mareep fired a blast of electricity form her body, so even though she was pushed back by the shockwave, it was nothing compared to Persian being struck by a powerful electric attack.
Persian screamed in pain, and was thrown backward again, and fell right in front of Whitney where it then passed out, after being completely charged and its white fur was now black, and was smoking.
"Persian is unable to battle," the referee said! "The last remaining Pokémon is Serena's Mareep, so the winner of this match is the challenger, Serena!"
"All right," Serena cheered, with a large smile on her face, and hugged her Pokémon, who was smiling a little in satisfaction. "Congratulations on your first gym win, Mareep, you were great."
Mareep nodded at Serena after she let her go, and then suddenly she started glowing.
"Wait a minute," Serena said after she saw her Pokémon glow, and started changing. "Is she..."
"Yep," Ash said while approaching her along with the others. "Mareep is evolving."
Few seconds later, the glow stopped, and in Mareep's place, stood a completely different looking Flaaffy.
Serena then hugged her Pokémon and congratulated her again, this time on evolving right after a big win, and becoming more powerful.
After that, Serena returned her Pokémon in the Poke Ball for a well-deserved rest, and then Whitney awarded her with the Plain Badge, which Serena accepted with a smile.
Then Whitney asked. "So, who is next?"
"I'll go next." Leaf said, and walked forward toward her position.
"Ok," Whitney said, and went to her place. "Let's do this!"
The referee the announced the match like he did before, and Whitney went first and released her Pokémon.
"Come out; Tauros, Ursaring," Whitney said, and two powerful looking Pokémon came out of their Poke Ball's, and stood next to each other.
"Damn, you are going with power this time, aren't you?" Leaf asked.
"Yep." Whitney said, and waited for Leaf to choose her Pokémon.
Leaf thought for a moment, and took two of her Poke Ball's, and threw them up. "You are up; Heracross, Piloswine!"
After Leaf's Pokémon came out of their Poke Ball's, and stood ready to battle, the referee started the match.
"BEGIN!"
"Ursaring, use Bulk Up, and then Hammer Arm on Heracross," Whitney started. "Tauros, use Horn Attack on Piloswine!"
Ursaring roared loudly and flexed its muscles. Its muscles then dramatically increase in size, and then it started running toward Heracross, while its hands glowed gold.
While Ursaring Bulked up, Tauros started charging at Piloswine, to hit it with its horns.
"Piloswine, use Ancient Power," Serena said! "Heracross, use Megahorn!"
When Tauros started charging at Piloswine, Piloswine's body glowed white and he created a silver energy ball in front of his nose. He then fired the ball at the running Tauros, who was too close, and took it right in the head, which caused an explosion, and sent Tauros sliding backwards several time.
At the same time, when Ursaring started running towards Heracross, with its arms glowing, Heracross's horn glowed bright white, and he flew at the approaching Ursaring, and rammed into its stomach with his horn, which caused Ursaring pain, and it lost focus for his attack.
"Stay tough, Ursaring, and use Thunder Punch!" Whitney said, and Ursaring's right fist got surrounded by yellow sparks which grow into a ball of electrical energy, while it held Heracross by the horn with its left hand, and then punched him right in the back of the head, and slammed Heracross into the ground, which cracked it a little, and caused Heracross to gasp.
"Heracross, come on, stand up, and use Brick Break," Leaf said! "Piloswine, use Ice Beam on Tauros!"
Heracross somehow stood up from the ground, shock his head to clear it up a little, as he was dizzy from the punch, and then, he flew up above Ursaring, and karate chopped it on the head from above, which buried Ursaring's head into the ground, while its feet stood up.
At the same time, Piloswine, formed a light blue ball of energy in between his tusks, and then shot multiple beams of the same color at Tauros, freezing it.
"Heracross, use Megahorn in Tauros!" Leaf said, as she tried to take out Tauros.
"Ursaring, use Thunder Punch on Heracross before he can reach Tauros!" Whitney said, trying to save her Pokémon who can't do anything while frozen.
Heracross flew with great force at Tauros, with his horn glowing, and was about to hit it, but then suddenly, Ursaring appeared in front of it, and punched Heracross into the horn, which created shockwave as the two attack's punched at one another.
Few moments later, there was an explosion because of the force collision between two attacks, and both Pokémon flew backwards, and bounced on the field.
"Tauros, use Hyper Beam on Heracross!" Whitney yelled.
"Piloswine, use Ancient Power on Ursaring!" Leaf countered.
Both Pokémon fired their attacks at the opponents who were on the ground, but still not defeated, and the yellow beam of energy which Tauros fired from its mouth, hit Heracross, and sent it to unconsciousness, while Piloswine's ball hit Ursaring, and caused an explosion, which also made Ursaring pass out.
"Ursaring and Heracross are unable to continue!" the referee said.
Whitney then returned her Ursaring with a sigh and apologize to Ursaring, and Leaf did as well, and also apologized to her Pokémon.
"They both took out one Pokémon each on purpose, so they can continue to battle one-on-one," Brock said. "They didn't even try to save the two downed Pokémon."
"Yeah," Ash agreed. "They sacrificed two of them, so they can continue easier. It's easier to battle one-on-one, then two-on-two."
"Well, the double battle was Whitney's idea," Brock said. "She didn't have to change the rules if she couldn't handle it."
"Maybe she did this as a test," Ash said, and Serena, Misty and Brock looked at him confused.
"What do you mean," Brock asked, while listening to what Ash will say, but also paying attention to the battle, which has resumed after Tauros managed to break out of the ice in which it was frozen?
"Not all gym's use three-on-three battles, which you already know," Ash said, and Brock nodded. "Well, maybe she wants to move from three-on-three battle's, to something else, like double battle's, or maybe even round battle's, or something like that."
"It is a possibility." Brock agreed, and they continued to watch the match, which was coming close to be finished.
"Piloswine, Ancient Power!" Leaf said.
"Tauros, Fissure!" Whitney said.
Piloswine fired another silver ball at his opponent, while Tauros rattled the battlefield with its hooves, then uses one of its hooves to slice open the ground with a white energy beam, which charged at Piloswine.
One attack by the ground, and the other by the air, but both managed to reach their target, and hit them, which sent both Pokémon flying backwards in the air, and then they both fell on the ground.
The referee looked at both Pokémon, and saw that Tauros is unconscious, while Piloswine was barely keeping himself from following Tauros into the dream land, but held it together for a little while.
"Tauros is unable to battle," the referee said! "The winners are Piloswine and Leaf!"
After it was announced, Leaf yelled, and celebrated her win of the fourth gym badge in Johto Region, and just like Serena, and most likely Ash in a little while, she is now at half way point to Silver Conference.
She was congratulated by her friends, and Whitney, who then gave her the Plain Badge, and she then moved away from the field along with Brock, Misty and Serena, while Ash walked to the field for his match.
Like in the two previous battle's, the referee announced the match, said the rules, and Whitney chose her two Pokemon.
"Come out, Miltank, Eevee!" Whitney said.
Her two Pokemon came out, and while Eevee stood still, and looked ready, Miltank looked more than ready as she was jumping up and down, which made her look funny.
"That's one funny Miltank," Ash said with a smile. "It's rare to see a Pokémon so pumped up."
"Yeah, she is a little hyperactive," Whitney admitted. "But she is strong, so don't underestimate her."
"Ok, I won't," Ash said, took two Poke Ball's, and released his two Pokémon. "You are up; Salamence, Chikorita!"
The referee quickly started the match, as he saw there was nothing Whitney and Ash wanted to say to on another anymore, and only wanted to start the match.
"BEGIN!"
"Miltank, Use Rollout on Chikorita," Whitney started! "Eevee, use Iron Tail on Salamence!"
Miltank pulled herself into a ball and started rolling toward Chikorita with incredible speed and power, while Eevee jumped in the air above Salamence, and its tail became surrounded in a white outline. Its tail then turns into iron and Eevee rolled in air, and started falling toward Salamence, and was about to hit him, just like Miltank was almost at Chikorita, when Ash reacted.
"Chikorita, jump up, and grab Eevee with Vine Whip!" Ash said, and in the last moment before she was about to be hit by Miltank, Chikorita jumped as high as she could, which was not exactly very high, but still enough to avoid Miltank, and then two green vines come from the bud necklace on Chikorita's neck and wrapped around Eevee's tail, and slightly around her neck, not strong enough to choke Eevee, but still enough to prevent her from moving too much, or try to attack.
The two of them then fell on the ground, with Chikorita standing on her legs, and still holding Eevee in wraps with Vine Whip.
"Miltank, attack Chikorita, and help Eevee!" Whitney said, after she saw her Pokémon in trouble, and wandered what Ash was planning by holding Eevee like that.
Then, Miltank turned around, and continued to roll toward Chikorita.
"Now, throw Eevee in front of Miltank!" Ash said, and Whitney's eyes widened as she realized what that meant.
"Miltank, stop!" Whitney yelled, but it was already too late.
As soon as Ash said it, Chikorita, swing her Vine's, and threw wide eyed Eevee at the incoming Miltank, who didn't stop, and hit Eevee with full force, which sent Eevee flying far away from the field, and collided with the wall surrounding the outside of the field, where it then fell on the ground.
"Eevee, nooo!" Whitney yelled in horror, as she saw her Pokémon hit by her other Pokémon like that, and then collide with the wall.
Everyone then looked at where Eevee was, and Whitney went to check it out, but only saw that Eevee was unconscious after she picked her up.
The referee also saw that Eevee was done for. "Eevee is unable to battle," he said. "The gym leader stays with Miltank only."
Whitney sighed at the defeat of one of her Pokémon, and returned her in its Poke Ball, and then went back to her spot on the field.
"That wasn't very nice of you, Ash," Whitney pouted.
"That was the easiest way I could think at the moment to get rid of one of your Pokémon," Ash said.
"Well, then let's see what you will do now," Whitney said with a smirk. "Miltank is my strongest Pokémon, and she has won many battles so far. You won't have a field day against her."
"We'll see." Ah replied with a smirk of his own, and Whitney's smirk disappeared as she got an uneasy feeling.
"Miltank, Rollout on Chikorita!" Whitney decided to restart the battle, and see what Ash was planning next, as he seems very confident.
"Chikorita, use Vine Whip to push yourself into the air as high as you can." Ash said, and while surprised by this, Chikorita still used Vine Whip, and slammed them into the ground at the same time as she jumped up, so the added force pushed her much higher than before.
Miltank passed where Chikorita used to be, and the stopped as she didn't hit anything, and looked at Chikorita.
"Now use Energy Ball, and swallow it!" This made everyone in the gym open their eyes wide, and stared at Ash.
None of them has ever seen Energy Ball use like this, and they were surprised, and curious about what Ash was planning.
Chikorita quickly created a ball of light green energy in front of her mouth, and swallowed it while falling back on the ground.
When she stood back on the field, Chikorita gulped the ball, and then she got surrounded by dark green aura, and it made her shake as she was overwhelmed by the power bust.
"Miltank, Rollout!" Whitney said, as she hoped that what Ash did was a mistake, since Chikorita doesn't look well, so it will be an easy take out for Miltank.
Miltank curled up again, and started rolling at Chikorita, whose leaf on the head started to glow gold from the overcharge of energy.
"Now, Solar Beam!" Ash said, as he saw that his experiment worked.
Chikorita's whole body flashed gold, and she fired a huge white beam from her mouth, and it hit Miltank, who was coming at her full speed.
The beam stopped Miltank, who, for a second pushed against it, but was quickly overwhelmed, and was sent flying by the beam all the way out of the field, and up the bleachers that were surrounding the field.
There was a silence for the entire minute, as no one was saying anything, as none, except Ash, knew what just happened, and didn't know how to react.
The silence would probably last longer, if it wasn't interrupted by Chikorita who was still shaking from overcharge, and has now started glowing.
"Wh-What just happened," Serena stuttered? "And what's going on with Chikorita?"
"I don't know," Brock replied to the first question. "And I think that Chikorita is evolving."
And he was right, as few seconds later, instead of small Chikorita who was shaking from energy overcharge, there stood several times bigger Bayleef, who had a smile on her face.
"Congratulations, Bayleef," Ash said with a smile, and Bayleef looked at him, and smiled back. "Both on an amazing move that you managed to pull out, and on evolution."
This brought back everyone to reality, and the first to be heard from was the referee.
"Eevee and Miltank are unable to continue, the winners are Salamence and Bayleef!" The referee said, and Ash approached to his Pokémon and congratulated them on the win.
Ash, Bayleef and Salamence were then approached by everyone but the referee, and Misty was the first to ask the question that was on everyone's minds. "Ash, what happened? How did Bayleef do, whatever she did?"
"Well, I knew that Chikorita has no move that could stop Miltank's Rollout, and was curious to find out if she can get a power up to pull a Solar Beam if she eats the Energy Ball," Ash explained, and everyone looked at him, and waited for him to continue. "She wouldn't be able to charge Solar Beam since we are in a closed space, but maybe she could use the energy from Energy Ball as a substitution to pull it off. That's what I thought, and it worked."
"I cannot believe you came up with something like that in the middle of the battle," Whitney said.
"Actually, this is something that was on my mind for a while," Ash said. "I just never managed to try it out."
"But you still had Salamence," Leaf said. "Why didn't you use him?"
"Well, Salamence had several battle's more than Chikorita so I wanted her to have tougher battles. And I also wanted to try this out."
"This was incredibly lucky," Misty said. "It could have failed, and Chikorita would have lost."
"Yeah, it could have failed," Ash shrugged. "But it worked just fine, and Chikorita won and then evolved."
"Why was Chikorita shaking like that after she ate the Energy Ball?" Brock asked.
"Because she got overcharged, and her body couldn't handle that power," Ash said. "I will admit I didn't think that will happen, and was worried she might be in danger, but we were lucky that the excess energy made her evolve."
Everyone in the gym shook their heads at that, and then after Ash returned Bayleef and Salamence in their Poke Ball's, Whitney gave Ash his badge, and then asked. "What are your plans now?"
"What do you mean?" Ash asked.
"I mean, where are you going next, and are you leaving immediately?" Whitney asked.
"Well, we planned to stay a day or two to look around the City a little, and maybe rest from travelling, and then continue the journey toward the next gym." Ash said.
"Then why don't you stay here for a day to look around, and then I'll take you to my Uncle Milton's, Miltank Farm, where you can rest and try out the great Miltank Milk," Whitney suggested, and made the others intrigued. "We can also get to know each other's better during your stay."
"That sounds interesting, so I'm in," Ash said, and then looked at the others. "What about you? Do you want to go and spend a little time on Miltank Ranch?"
They all looked at each other, and nodded at the same time.
"I'm fine with it," Leaf said. "It should be interesting, as you said."
Whitney smiled after everyone agreed with her offer, and then they all went together to the Pokémon Center.