Chapter 51
The rest of the day after the gym battles against Whitney was spent going around Goldenrod City, sightseeing.
The next day, in the morning, Whitney showed up in the Pokémon Center, and just like they all agreed, she took Ash and the others to the hills outside of the Goldenrod City where her uncle Milton had a Miltank farm.
That's where Ash and the others spent the next two days, trying out Miltank milk, and some other products that were made from said milk.
They all also spent a lot of time together, especially Ash and the girls so they can get to know each other better, and the girls wanted to see if the new girl would be good for Ash.
Brock mostly stayed away during that time, and was learning about Miltank from Milton.
After two days had passed, Ash and the others decided to leave, and continue their journey, but were all happy that Whitney proved herself in the eyes of Misty and Leaf, and to some extent Serena, who will definitely one day become Ash's girlfriend, and everyone know that.
One long good bye later, and the group left toward Ecruteak City, while waving at Whitney and her uncle who stayed back.
XXX
Three days after leaving Goldenrod City, Ash and the group got incredibly lucky (at least in their opinion), when they were passing next to some valley, in which they saw a bunch of Ditto, so they decided to catch them all, as according to Ash, even though they can be very useful in battles, their main ability to transform into any Pokémon can be very useful in Pokémon breeding, as they can technically breed with any Pokémon.
So, the five of them ended up catching 25 Ditto, five each, and then sent them to Oak's Ranch, Cerulean Gym and Pewter Gym.
After that was done, they continued their journey.
XXX
The same night after Ash and the others caught those Ditto, Ash talked with Amber, and she told him that she and her friends will make a stop in the National Park in between Goldenrod City and Ecruteak City, for the Bug Catching Contest, and much to Misty annoyance that she has to deal with her fear of Bug Types, again, Ash decided to also make a stop so he can see Amber after not seeing her since they split up in New Bark Town.
Just as they were approaching toward the gate of the National Park, and after they saw a bunch of people waiting in line to register, there was a shout from the group.
"Big Brother!" Amber yelled after she saw Ash and the others approaching, and she abandoned her friends, and ran at Ash.
Once she was close enough, she jumped at him, and enveloped him in a bone crushing hug.
"Who, easy there Amber," Ash said after he caught Amber, while barely being able to stop himself from falling on his ass from Amber's jump on him. "You almost made me fall on my ass."
Amber let go of Ash, and looked at him, while wearing a large smile on her face. "I'm just glad to see you," Amber said. "I missed you a lot."
"And I missed you as well," Ash said with a smile. "But remember, it was your choice to not travel with me."
"I know, I know," Amber said, while her smile got smaller. "But while I do miss you, I don't regret my decision. This way is much better for me."
"If you say so," Ash shrugged, and then asked. "But tell me, how is your journey going?"
"I'll tell you later," Amber said. "But now we have to go and register for the competition."
Amber then waved at Misty, Brock, Leaf and Serena, and dragged Ash by his hand toward the gate of the National Park, where Marina, Casey and Macy were standing and waiting.
The others in Ash's group sighed, and followed after Ash and Amber.
"Hey girls, what up?" Ash asked after he got dragged to the waiting line, and saw Amber's friends.
Marina, Casey and Macy looked at Ash, and Casey and Macy immediately blushed, while Marina, even though she thought Ash was hot, didn't blush, as she already had her eyes on another guy, and liked him enough to not allow herself to be swayed by a better-looking guy.
"Hey Ash," Marina said, as she knew Macy and Casey won't be talking much, judging by the blushes on their faces. "We've been fine. What about you and the others?"
"We are great," Ash replied, and then the others in his group arrived next to him.
For the next few minutes, they all greeted each other, and had small talk while waiting in line.
After 10 minutes of moving slowly, they got to the gate, where Amber and her friends, as well as Serena and Leaf registered for the competition, and were given one of the Park Ball's, and explained the rules.
After that, the competitors went to the forest, while Ash and those who didn't compete, went to the amphitheater, where there was a big screen, on which the crowd could watch what was going on in the competition.
"Who do you think will win this competition, Ash?" Brock asked from where he was sitting along with Ash and Misty.
"Well, it could be any of the competitors, really," Ash said, while thinking who to choose. "But if I have to choose, it will be either Leaf, Amber or Serena, as I'm sure they are better than the rest of the kids in the competition."
"Well, then let's see if you are right." Brock said, and he and Ash continued to watch the screen, while Misty was looking around, to see if one of the Bug Types comes near her.
XXX
After she entered into the forest, Amber released her Quilava, which evolved from the Cyndaquil she got from Professor Elm, and together, they started looking for some Bug Type Pokémon to catch.
Few minutes later, they run into Scyther, and Amber grinned.
"All right," she said. "Let's go Quilava, if we catch this Scyther, we will win for sure."
Quilava jumped in front of Amber and stood across of Scyther, who, after it saw them, also got ready for battle.
"Quilava, use Flamethrower!" Amber said.
Quilava then rose to his hind legs, and took a deep breath, after which he blew a powerful looking Flamethrower from his mouth, that went at Scyther, who, crossed its claws across its chest and started to spin around in place, so when the Flamethrower hit it, it split in two sides, and went behind him, without doing much damage to it.
Once the Flamethrower was over, Scyther stopped spinning, and prepared his next attack, by crossing its scythes and they then started to glow light purple. It then flew towards Quilava, and sliced him in an 'X'-like fashion, which then threw Quilava backwards.
Scyther then stood back, while Amber looked at her Pokémon with a worry in her eyes. Are you ok, Quilava," she asked? "Can you continue?"
Quilava stood back up, though there was a small slash mark on his face, and several bruises from bouncing on the ground, but he nodded at Amber, and was ready to continue.
"Great, then use Flamethrower again, and then follow it up with Flame Wheel, if Scyther defends again with Swords Dance!" Amber said.
Quilava again fired Flamethrower, and just like before, Scyther used Swords Dance to defend itself from the fire attack, which made Amber smirk.
Just when he stopped Flamethrower, Quilava started spinning around in the air and his body become engulfed in flames. He then rolled at Scyther, who has just stopped using Swords Dance, and had no time to activate it again, and was hit by Quilava using Flame Wheel, pushing it back several dozen meters while bouncing on the ground, until it hit the tree, and stopped.
Amber approached it along with Quilava to see it, and saw that Scyther was unconscious, and covered in burn marks and bruises.
"Well done Quilava," Amber said, as she took one empty Poke Ball, and threw it at Scyther, who was immediately caught, as it didn't fight back.
"I think we can finish this right now, as I doubt, I'll find better bug type then Scyther in this forest," Amber said to her Quilava, who nodded, and she walked back toward the entrance to the forest, as in her opinion, there is no reason to continue.
XXX
"She is good," Brock commented after Amber caught Scyther. "But do you think that she should stay and try to find something else?"
"I think she is right," Ash said. "She can hardy find better Pokémon then Scyther and it would be risky, to release it and gamble on another Pokémon."
"I guess you are right." Brock said, and continued to watch the screen, which was showing different trainers battling against Pokémon they encountered, and among them were also Leaf and Serena, who have managed to catch a Beedrill (Serena), and Butterfree (Leaf), as well as Macy, Casey and Marina, who have captured Pineco (Macy), Paras (Casey) and Venomoth (Marina).
"Serena, Leaf and Ambers friends were able to catch good Bug Types," Misty suddenly said. "Who do you think has higher chances now?"
"It's a hard choice," Ash said. "When I saw Amber catch Scyther I was sure she will win, but I guess Leaf, Serena and Marina caught three Pokémon that were probably the only three bug types that can stand on equal ground against Scyther besides maybe Ariados, Parasect and Ledian. So, I guess we will have to wait to hear the decision of the judges to find out."
XXX
Little over half an hour after Amber, Leaf and Serena caught their Pokémon, the time run out, and all the trainers who competed came out of the forest, and gathered on the amphitheater, where, few minutes later the judges made the decision on who the winner is.
"And the winner of this year's Bug catching contest is..." one of the judges started saying, and then stopped to prolong the tension a little bit. "Amber, who has caught Scyther!"
The crowd and the other trainers who competed started clapping their hands, and cheered for Amber, though some trainers were sad that they didn't win, but realized their bug types could not compare against Scyther, so they let it go.
Amber was then allowed to keep the Scyther she caught, and was awarded Sun Stone, which she accepted, and after she bowed to the crowd, she left the stage, and went to meet with Ash and the others, followed by Leaf, Serena and her friends.
XXX
"Hey Ash," Amber yelled, while approaching Ash, Misty and Brock on the bleachers where they were sitting. "How was I? "Did I do well?" She asked after she came in front of them.
"You were great, Amber, congratulations on the win," Ash said, and Amber's eyes shined at that, and Ash then looked at the other girls who came after Amber. "You were all great, so congratulations to you all."
"Thanks, Ash." They all said.
They all left the National Park together, and went a little away, where they all set down, for lunch and to catch up with each other and hear how their journeys went.
"So, Amber, who is your journey going so far?" Ash asked, while they all were sitting, and eating some sandwiches that Brock prepared for all of them.
"It's going fine, I guess," she replied. "We all got three badges already, and are now on the way to Goldenrod City for our fourth."
"Wait, three?' Ash asked surprised, and the others in his party were surprised a little as well, since they thought Amber and her friends only went to Violet City and Azalea Town.
"Yeah, we started in Violet, and then went to Ecruteak City, and from there to Mahogany Town," Amber said.
"But why did you go that way?" It was Serena who asked, and Marina decided to answer.
"Well, when we were in Violet, we looked at the map, and realized that it might be better to go to Ecruteak City first, since it's closer to Violet then Azalea, and Mahogany is not far from Ecruteak City, so we went there as well."
"So, where are you planning to go after Goldenrod?" Misty asked.
"After Goldenrod City, we will go to Azalea Town, and then to Alto Mare," Casey said. "I always wanted to visit that place, and after Azalea would be the best chance."
"Where is Alto Mare anyway?" Misty asked.
"It's an Island, south of Azalea Town," Casey replied. "It's one of the most beautiful places in Johto Region, and there are some rumors that Latios and Latias are the guardians of that place."
"Wow," Latios and Latias," Serena said with a shine in her eyes. "It would be great to see such Pokémon."
Ash looked at her with raised eyebrow. "Didn't I promise you that you will see Latios when we meet with Cynthia?" Ash asked her.
"Well, you did," Serena replied, while Marina, Macy and Casey raised their eyebrows in surprised, as they didn't expect someone to have Latios. "But who knows when we will see her."
"Well, last time we talked was after we left Azalea Town. She said she was preparing to challenge Sinnoh Elite Four," Ash said. "So, we might meet her in a few months, once she finishes with the Elite Four and maybe Sinnoh Champion, she plans to take a small vacation, and promised to come and visit us wherever we are at the time."
"Is that so?" Leaf asked surprised. "So, she won Sinnoh League."
"Yep." Ash replied.
"Excuse me, but who is Cynthia?" Macy asked, and then blushed a little when Ash and the others looked at her.
"She is a... friend," Ash said, after thinking for a second what to say. "She was the girl I defeated in the final of the Kanto Region last year."
"Ahh, it's that girl with long blond hair." Marina said.
"Yeah, that's her." Ash said, and Casey and Macy remembered her from the TV.
"So, she has a Latios," Casey said. "How did she capture it?"
"Well, technically she didn't," Ash said, and after he saw confused expressions on Marina's, Casey's and Macy's faces, he continued. "Did you watch the semifinal match of the Kanto Region last year, when I defeated that guy who was using Legendary Pokémon?"
Marina, Macy and Casey nodded, so Ash continued.
"Well, after the battle, I took away his trainers license because he was abusing his Pokémon, and along with the license I also took away his five Legendary Pokémon, and only left him his first Pokémon, Garchomp. Later, I gave four out of five Legendary Pokémon to Misty, Leaf, Cynthia and Brock, and I kept last one. Cynthia took Latios."
"Wow, so you have a Legendary Pokémon!" All three girls yelled at the same time, while looking at Ash, and his friends who also had Legendary Pokémon.
"Yes," Ash confirmed. "We have Legendary Pokémon."
"Are they with you now," Macy asked ready to explode in excitement? "Can we see them if they are?"
Ash and the others sighed, and decided to show them, as they couldn't just refuse, and didn't want to lie and say they were not with them.
So, Ash, Leaf, Misty and Brock took the Poke Balls with the Legendary Pokémon in them, and let them out at the same time.
"WOW!" Marina, Macy and Casey yelled at the same time again, after they saw four Legendary Pokémon, and their eyes were sinning, while their faces almost split up from the wide smiles.
"They look amazing," Casey said, while looking over Lugia, while Macy and Marina were looking at Darkrai, Heatran and Volcanion.
"They sure do," Ash said with a smile. "You don't mind if these girls spend a little time with you all, don't you?" Ash then asked the group of Legendary Pokémon.
Lugia smiled and nodded, while the other three didn't appear to care, but Ash knew they liked the attention, at least a little, even though they think that these girls shouldn't act like this, they still know that you don't see a Legendary Pokémon every day, and understand their excitement.
"I can't believe that after only few months of traveling, we have already met five Legendary Pokémon," Casey said without thinking, and Amber winced a little, which Ash noticed, and narrowed his eyes.
"And where did you meet Legendary Pokémon before these four?" Ash asked.
Marina, Casey and Macy obviously didn't notice that Amber didn't seem to want to mention that, so they decided to tell Ash.
"Oh, we met Raikou when we were on the way to Mahogany Town." Marina said.
"Yeah, we ran into these bad guys who were trying to capture it, so we helped it get free, and then Officer Jenny arrested the bad guys." Casey said, and Ash glared at Amber like he was about to explode, while Misty, Serena, Leaf and Brock looked like they wanted to ran away.
Marina, Casey and Macy were clueless about what's going on, and were only paying attention to the Legendary Pokémon.
"And you didn't mention this before, because…" Ash asked, while looking at Amber, who gulped.
She knew that Ash wouldn't hurt her or anything, but if he wants to, he can decide to take her with him, and prevent her from traveling with her friends, and she didn't want that.
"I knew you were not going to like it, so I decided to keep quiet," Amber said.
"Who were they, did something happen to you, and what exactly happened?" Ash asked, in dangerously low voice.
"Nothing happened to me, or my friends," Amber said. "As Marina said, we were on the route to Mahogany Town, and stopped in the Pokémon Center, when we noticed some strange people, and I recognized the clothing they were wearing, so we followed them, and saw them right in the middle of capturing Raikou with some machine. So, we decided to stop them, and we sent all of our Pokémon, who beat the hell out of them, and released Raikou.
"After that, we called Officer Jenny, and she arrested them all."
"It was Team Rocket, wasn't it?" Ash asked, now a little calmer when he knew that nothing happened to Amber, but still angry that she put herself in such danger.
"Yeah, it was them." Amber confirmed, and Ash sighed.
"You were not supposed to go after them, Amber," Ash said. "You know that was irresponsible, right?"
"I know," Amber said, and lowered her head. "But when I saw them, I just knew they were up to no good, and I had to see what they plan, and stop them. It turned out OK, in the end, so that's good."
"It's good that nothing happened to any of you four," Ash said. "But it's still bad that you went after them."
"Sorry, big brother," Amber said meekly, and Ash sighed, and hugged is sister.
This of course draw the attention of Marina, Macy and Casey, and they wondered why Amber was sad, and Ash looked a little angry, but decided to be quiet.
After Ash and Amber stopped hugging, Amber looked at Ash, and asked. "Are you going to forbid me from traveling with my fiends now?"
Amber's friends looked at Ash immediately, and waited for him to respond, and hoped that whatever happened between the two, was not bad enough that Ash will not allow Amber to travel with them.
Ash looked at Amber for a while, thinking what to do. He knew that it would be best to take her with him, and keep her safe, because she can run into Team Rocket again, as they are still on the loose in Johto Region, and are doing who knows what, but he also knew that if he does that, she will become miserable, and might take her a while to get herself together. And she might even start to hate him, which is something he doesn't want to happen.
So, in the end he decided to let her go. "No, I will not stop you from continuing to travel with your friends." Ash said, and suddenly he was hugged by Amber, but also by her three friends, who almost crushed him to the ground because they practically tackled him.
"Thank you, a lot, big brother/Ash," Amber and her friends said at the same time, and then let go of Ash.
"But," Ash said, and all four looked at him, and listened what he was about to say. "If I find out you went after Team Rocket again, well as much as I wouldn't want to separate you from your friends, you will not be traveling without me again. Is that understood?"
"Yes sir!" All four girls said, and even saluted to Ash, which made him roll his eyes, while his friends laughed at his expression.
After that was settled, they all continued to talk for a while, and they all shared their stories from their travels.
Around five in the afternoon, they decided to continue toward their separate destination, since Amber and her friends wanted to be able to get to the Pokémon Center few hours away from where they are right now, and not have to spend the night camping out, while Ash and the other will have to camp out, as there is no Pokémon Center close to the direction where they were going.
"Take care of yourself, Amber," Ash said to his little sister, while everyone was saying a good bye to each other. "And remember what I told you."
"I will big brother," Amber said. "Don't worry."
"Yeah right, like that's ever going to happen," Ash said, and Amber smiled at him, then kissed him on the cheek, and walked away along with her friends, while Ash stood there with his friends and was watching at Amber until she was out of sights, and then he and the others also continued in the other direction.
Two days after Ash and the others saw Amber and her friends, and continued their journey toward Ecruteak City, they run into four Sudowoodo, and Brock decided to catch them all, keep one for himself, and keep the other three for Swap Meat.
He used his Psyduck to battle them, and he was able to defeat two before he was overpowered, but then he evolved into Golduck, and was able to defeat the last two, and Brock caught them.
Three days after that, while they were in Pokémon Center, Brock saw he got an e-mail from Suzie.
She told him she is looking for a Pokémon to compete in the Pokémon Beauty Contest, and Brock sent a reply that he will return her Vulpix that she gave him a while ago, and they agreed to meet in the Bonitaville Town, which is not far from where Brock is right now.
They met in Bonitaville a day later, and Suzie asked Brock to join her in the competition, so Brock agreed.
Ever since Ash talked with Brock after Orange Islands, Brock started changing and he wasn't flirting with every beautiful girl he sees anymore, and ever since then, he was regularly getting mails from Suzie, and they kept in contact, and often talked about different stuff.
So, Brock was planning to use this opportunity, and ask Suzie out, and if they can potentially be together.
But, unfortunately for Brock, on that competition was also Suzie childhood friend, Zane, and it didn't take Brock long time to figure out that Suzie likes Zane, that he also likes her, and that he has no chances against him.
He was sad at first, but after a short conversation with Ash, who figured out what's going on after he saw Brock not acting like himself, Brock decided to let go of his fixation on Suzie, and try to find another girl, which shouldn't be that hard, with all the girls he is meeting on his travels with Ash and the others.
Brock and Suzie ended up winning the Pokémon Beauty Contest, and then after Brock returned Vulpix to Suzie, and said a good bye to the both of them, he and the others left Bonitaville, and continued toward Ecruteak City.
XXX
Few days after parting ways with Suzie, Ash and the others are on the way to the Ecruteak City, when they hear Pokémon Battle nearby.
"Where is that coming from?" Misty asked, while looking around.
"I think it's coming from up the road," Ash said, while looking up ahead of them.
"Does that voice sound familiar, or is it just me?" Leaf suddenly asked.
"It's Gary's" Ash said, and everyone looked at him.
"You recognized Gary's voice just like that?" Misty questioned.
"I've known Gary since I was toddler," Ash said. "Of course, I would recognize his voice."
After he got questioning looks from everyone, Ash sighed. "Well, I might have sensed with my Aura Powers to check it out."
Misty nodded in satisfaction, as she was able to pull the truth out of Ash, and then she walked ahead to see the battle, while the others followed.
As they got close enough to see the trainers and the battle, the group saw it was indeed Gary, and he is having a battle with his Umbreon against some trainer who is using Alakazam.
They saw Alakazam disappear with Teleport, and Gary and Umbreon looking around searching for it.
"Alakazam, Hyper Beam!" The trainer said.
Garry then suddenly saw a strange yellow light coming from his and Umbreon's left side, and he says. "Umbreon, watch out from the left, and then use Hidden Power!"
In the last second, Umbreon jumps high up, and his eyes glowed white, and it unleashed black radiating waves of energy, which hit Alakazam, and finished it off, thus Gary won the battle.
The unknown trainer sighed after his loss, and returned his Pokémon. After he congratulated Gary on the win, he left, while Gary stayed behind with his Umbreon.
"That was a nice battle, Gary." Ash said while approaching with the others from behind Gary, who turned around, and saw them.
"Ash, everyone, what's up," Gary asked. "I wasn't expecting to see you all."
"Yeah, we are on the way to Ecruteak City," Ash replied. "What about you?"
"Oh, I've been here for a few days now," Gary said. "I decided to make a small stop and train couple of knew Pokémon that I caught recently, to bring them to a higher level as soon as possible so they can keep up with the others."
"That's good I guess," Ash said, and looked at Umbreon. "Is that the Eevee you used in our battle last time we saw each other?"
"Yep," Gary replied, while he was patting his Pokémon. "He evolved a while ago, and has become much more powerful."
"I'm glad to hear that," Ash said. "How about we have a little battle, to see exactly how much better he is, and I'm interested to see how my Eevee will fare against one of her evolved forms?"
Gary looked at Ash, and then at the others, and said. "Sure, why not." But then he approached to Ash, and whispered quietly. "But tell me first. Who is that girl? I don't know her." He asked while looking at Serena, who was surprised by how Gary was looking at her.
Ash looked at Gary, surprised by the question, and then looked at Serena, and turned back to Gary. "Don't you recognize her," Ash asked, and everyone heard, since he wasn't exactly trying to be quiet? "That's Serena, you met her few years ago at your grandfather's camp. Remember?"
Gary looked at Serena with raised eyebrows, and then after a few moments, he finally remembered. "Oh, right, you are that girl from Kalos Region that Ash saved after you got lost and hurt in the forest." Gary said, and Serena blushed at being reminded of that.
"Yeah, that's me." Serena said.
"But what are you doing here?" Gary asked.
"I started my journey few months ago, and decided to travel with Ash, so we met in Viridian City after he left Pallet Town for the Johto Region." Serena explained.
"Is that so?' Gary questioned, while looking at Serena, and then looked back at Ash, and smirked. "So, you've got another one?"
This of course, made Serena blush even more, as she knew exactly what Gary was insinuating, and Ash just shook his head. "Not yet," Ash said, and then smirked at Serena, whose blush just kept intensifying. "But you never know, she might become soon."
Gary snorted at that, while the other of Ash's friends just shook their heads. Serena was just blushing.
"So, are we going to have that battle, or what?" Gary asked.
"Of course." Ash said, and the two walked a little away from the others, and stood several dozen meters away from each other, with Umbreon standing in front of Gary, and waiting for Ash to call his Eevee.
"Come out, Eevee!" Ash released his Pokémon, and his female Eevee came out, and stood across from Umbreon, ready to battle.
They agreed that there is no need for the referee when Brock offered to do it, so the battle started.
"Eevee, use Quick Attack!" Ash said.
"Umbreon, use Quick Attack as well!" Gary said.
Eevee and Umbreon started running at a fast speed at each other, while a white trail was created behind them, and then they both tackled each other with high force behind the clash, which created a small shockwave.
Being a lot smaller than Umbreon, and with smaller physical power, Eevee was pushed back, and fell on the ground few meters from the spot where they clashed.
"Great job, Umbreon," Gary said with a smile. "Now use Hidden Power!"
"Eevee, use Double Team!" Ash said, to his Pokémon, who stood up after the clash with Umbreon.
Umbreon's eyes glow white, for a moment after Garry told him the attack, and he unleashed a black radiating waves of energy at Eevee, who, created multiple copies of herself, and they all jumped in different direction to escape from the waves, and for the real Eevee to get into the better position for the next attack.
Many copies of Eevee were destroyed by Umbreon's attack, but the real one and few others got away, and then.
"Now use Swift!" Ash added, and the rest of the copies disappeared, and the real Eevee, who was now above Umbreon, swished her tail, releasing multiple yellow stars with golden sparkles around them at Umbreon, and the attack hit him straight on, causing Umbreon some damage and pain, as he stumbled back on the ground.
"Come on Umbreon, you can do it," Gary said to his Pokémon, who stood up, and was ready to continue! "Great, now use Shadow Ball!"
"Counter it with your Shadow Ball, Eevee!" Ash said.
Both Pokémon opened their mouth and created a black and purple ball in front of their mouth, and then fired it at the other, and a second later, two balls clashed in the middle between the two Pokémon.
After few seconds, Umbreon's ball pushed Eevee's back, and was about to hit her, but they both exploded before it could actually hit Eevee.
Unfortunately, the explosion was very close to Eevee, and it threw her backwards, where she bounced off the ground few times, until she stopped several meters behind Ash.
"Eevee, are you ok," Ash asked, worried for his Pokémon? "Can you stand up?"
Eevee pushed herself and tried to stand up, though it wasn't easy, as she had some burns from the explosion and bruises from bouncing off the ground.
Eventually, Eevee stood up, and walked back in front of Ash, and looked at him. "I can still fight, Ash," she said! "I don't want to quit!"
"That's the spirit," Ash said, and said his next move. "Use Iron Tail!"
"Umbreon, use Reflect!" Gary countered.
Eevee run toward Umbreon, and then jumped up in the air, while her tail become surrounded in white sparkles and it then become surrounded in a white outline. Her tail then became iron-like and she then turned into the air, and hit Umbreon, who got surrounded by a black and purple barrier, which protected him from Eevee's attack, by stopping it for a while, and even though after few moments the barrier broke from the force of Eevee's attack, it only caused a small amount of damage, and didn't defeat him as it most likely would if Eevee hit him directly on the head.
"Use Quick Attack, Umbreon!" Gary quickly said, trying to catch Eevee and Ash of guard, as they might have thought that Umbreon was a little more injured then he actually was.
Umbreon shook his head to clear make the pain he felt from Iron Tail go away, and suddenly ran at Eevee, and indeed caught her and Ash of guard, but Ash reacted quickly.
"Eevee, Protect!" Ash said.
In the last moment, Eevee created a barrier around herself, and Umbreon clashed with it, and bounced back, without doing any damage.
"That was a close one." Ash said, while looking at Eevee who released the barrier, and then at Umbreon, who was shaking his head again, as he was feeling pain from basically hitting in the wall.
Few moments later, both Pokémon stood across from each other, and were both ready to continue, but they were both tired, and close to being done.
"I guess they won't last much longer," Ash said to Gary. "I will admit that Umbreon is physically stronger than my Eevee, but Eevee managed to keep up, by being fresh, since you already had that battle against Alakazam."
"I agree with you," Gary said. "So, how are we going to finish this?"
Ash looked at Eevee, and asked her. "Do you wish to battle until the end, or do you want to stop? Remember, this is only sparing battle, there is no need to push it further then necessary."
Eevee looked at Ash. "I want to continue," she said with narrowed eyes. "I want to try and defeat him!"
"Ok," Ash said. "Then let it loose!"
Eevee nodded, looked back at Umbreon with narrowed eyes, and then she started glowing, and changing her shape.
"Oh, you have got to be kidding me!" Gary almost shouted in disbelief. "How can you be so lucky?"
Several seconds later, the glow stopped, and instead of Eevee, there stood an Espeon, ready to finish this battle.
"Actually, Eevee could have evolved some time ago, but she decided to wait for the right moment," Ash said. "The same was going with the other Eevee, who evolved into Umbreon not long ago."
"Hm," Gary grunted, and looked at his Umbreon. "Let's finish this, Umbreon. She is still weak from the battle, and evolutions will not help her regain stamina."
"You are right," Ash said. "But your Umbreon is tired as well. Espeon, use Psybeam."
"Umbreon, counter it with Shadow Ball!" Gary said.
The red gem on Espeon's forehead shined and she released a multicolored beam from it at Umbreon.
Umbreon created another black and purple ball in front of his mouth, and fired it at the incoming Psybeam.
When the two attacks collided, there was a big explosion that lifted dust from the ground, and pushed both Pokémon backwards.
"Espeon, use Quick Attack!" Ash said, right after Espeon stood back up.
"Umbreon, use Double Team, and then Hidden Power!" Gary said.
Espeon run at a fast speed, leaving behind a white trail, and was about to hit Umbreon, when he created a bunch of doubles of himself, and Espeon passed through one of them.
"Umbreon, now!" Gary yelled, and his Pokémon used Hidden Power again, which destroyed all his clones, and went at Espeon.
"Use Protect, again!" Ash said.
Espeon created a barrier around herself, and that protected her from black waves released by Umbreon.
"Quick Attack/Quick Attack!" Both Ash and Gary shouted, and then both Pokémon run at each other at full speed, and collided.
One more shockwave later, and both Pokémon were thrown backwards toward their trainers, and they stopped on the ground right in front of them.
Ash kneeled down next to his Pokémon, and saw that Espeon was knocked out, and he sighed. "She's out." Ash said, and looked at Gary, who was also checking his Pokémon.
"So is Umbreon." Gary said, also with a sigh.
"Then this match ends in a tie." Ash said, and Gary agreed.
"Another one." Gary said.
"You are good, Gary," Ash said with a smirk. "No one was able to tie against me twice."
"I trained my Pokémon as hard as you do," Gary said, as he was returning his Umbreon in his Poke Ball, and then Ash followed him, and did the same.
"I guess we will see how hard you really trained them at the Silver Conference, wont we?" Ash said.
"We definitely will." Gary agreed, and he and Ash shook hands.
The others approached them. "That was a great battle, Gary," Serena said. "I've never seen Ash not win a battle."
"Thanks' Serena." Gary said.
After that, they talked some more, and then Ash and the others decided to go ahead and continue their journey, while Gary decided to stay and train some more.
XXX
Few days after parting ways with Gary, and while still on Route to Ecruteak City, Ash, Misty, Serena, Leaf and Brock meet a boy named Ephraim who was training with his Skiploom, and he tells them about annual Grass Type Pokémon tournament.
Misty thought that this might be a good chance for her Gloom, so she decided to enter.
Misty and Ephraim won all of their matches, and then faced in the finals against each other. Misty vs. Ephraim – Gloom vs. Skiploom.
Misty ended up winning the tournament, and was awarded a trophy, and a set of Leaf Stone's, but she decided to give the stone's to Ephraim, as he wanted to use them to evolve his parents Pokémon, so he needed them more then Misty did, as she only has one Grass Type Pokémon. She of course, kept the trophy for herself.
After saying good bye to Ephraim and his parents, the group continued toward Ecruteak City, but after they left, Misty's Gloom suddenly came out of his Poke Ball, and asked Misty to give him a Leaf Stone so he can evolve into Vileplume.
It was only then, that Misty realized she gave all of the stones to Ephraim, and now has not even one of Leaf Stone's.
Ash than started to laugh at her because she forgot that she will need one Leaf Stone for Gloom, and Misty blushed first at Ash's laugh, and then raged at him for laughing in her face like that.
Ash then took one of the Leaf Stone's he had, and gave it to Misty, who thanked him, and then gave the Stone to Gloom.
Misty's Gloom took the stone from Misty, and evolved into Vileplume.
After that was over, the journey continued.