Chapter 8: Serpentine Gym Battle
During the night time, Ash has been thinking about his upcoming Gym Battle. He is quite nervous, as this is the first step to prove those traitors wrong. Now sleeping with the same bed as Alice, he feels her holding his chest like a teddy bear, he smiles as he knows that there is still people who believe in him and he decides to put all the worries behind and have a good night sleep.
In the next morning, Ash and Alice finally arrive at the gym for the gym challenge. Alice says to Ash, "Ash, I want to give you a tip. Donna uses Poison Type Pokemon. Which means that Grass-type and Bug-type attacks don't work well against her, so be careful. And she will be using three Pokemon for her battles."
"Okay, thanks." Ash smiles at the girl. Alice likes the smile that captures her heart, so she smiles back, giving him courage to defeat the gym.
Once they get inside, they see the gym looking like a maze. The maze are made of bushes with red and white roses on them. Ash says, "Hey Alice, those roses sure are beautiful."
But just as Ash is trying to approach it, Alice stops him by grabbing his hand. "Well, the gym here sure looks like a maze of rose hedges and trees. Ash, be careful not to get poisoned on their thorns. But I am sure that you can make it." Alice suggests.
"Okay." Ash says, but the two of them are blushing at how they are so close to each other. Donna approaches them at the other side of the battlefield and she says, "Oh hey Ash, hey Alice! Did I miss something?"
The two of them break out of their holding in embarrassment, Donna is curious, but she decides to brush it off. "I'm glad you came! Well this is the gym... Well, my Gym, I guess. This used to belong to my dad, so I just started growing my roses here."
"I can tell, and you really did a good job." Ash says with a smile.
"I've loved Poison-type Pokémon since I was born. They can be tough, but beautiful, too. Just like every rose has its thorns! Lets do our best, okay? Choose up to three Pokémon for our battle and we should go! Here is my first Pokemon! Tadart!"
As she sends out the first Pokemon, it is a half tadpole half frog like Pokemon with a leaf attached to the tip of the tail. Noticing the leaf, Ash says, "I have to guess that it is not only a Poison Type, but also a Grass Type. So Budcheep! I choose you!"
As Budcheep appears, it flies into the air and gives a growl. Just as the match begins, Tadart then disappears inside the maze and Donna smiles, "Camouflage is now set, first, Leaf Darts while moving!"
"Budcheep, dodge it!" Ash yells, but due to the fact that its color is very similar to the bushes, Budcheep can't see where the attack is from, and thus it gets hurt. Ash grits his teeth and says, "Budcheep, Wing Attack on the hedges!"
As Budcheep manages to cut through the hedges and hits the Tadart, causing it to send backwards. "Nice job, Budcheep."
Budcheep tries to cheer, but it suddenly falls down with agony, Ash notices the purple on the face and he says, "What? You got poisoned, but how?"
Donna just gives him a smirk. "The maze is also poisonous, so I will try to think twice if I were you." Donna says. "Growl!"
Ash sees how the Tadart is charging its attack, he closes his eyes and says, "I know, Alice has told me about this." Then he opens his eyes wide and yells, "But I can still do this, use Sing!"
The two Pokemon are battling with their voices, but in the end, Budcheep's Sing goes through the attack and then making Tadart asleep.
"Oh no!" Donna is now scared that the attack went through and Tadart has to wait until it gets awake.
"Time to deliver the final attack, finish it with Echoed Voice!" Ash yells as the attacks hit the sleeping Tadart, causing it to faint.
"Tadart return!" Donna says as she recalls her Pokemon, then she looks at Ash and says, "I have to admit, I am impressed with your skills, but here is my second Pokemon. Spidox!"
A black spider like Pokemon appears on the field, the spider also has a red H on its back. Ash looks at Budcheep, finding that it is still poisoned. Ash says, "Budcheep, do you want to continue?"
Budcheep nods, despite being in pain with the poison. Ash nods and says, "Now Budcheerp, give him a Peck!"
"No you won't. Dodge it and then use String Shot!" Donna says. Spidox just jumps onto the hedge and then shoots out the silk. Ash gasps as the poison is affecting Budcheep, causing him unable to dodge the upcoming attack. In the end, Budcheep is being tangled with silk and then being thrown to the ground, fainted.
"Return, Budcheep, you deserve a good rest." Ash says. Alice is watching in the stands with Pikachu, Pikachu says, "Aw man...he lost..."
"Don't worry, right now it is only a tie, Pikachu." Alice says as she rubs the mouse's ears, causing it to squeal. "Ash has two more Pokemon while Donna is the same...I wonder how it will go."
"Moonky! I choose you!" As the monkey Pokemon appears, it gives the loud roar. Donna says, "Ah, the same Moonky that you captured yesterday. It is a Psychic Type, a good type match up for Poison Type. But you do know tha Spidox is also a Bug Type, which has an advantage over Psychic Types, right?"
"I know, but I know I can win as well. Moonky, let's start with Confusion!" Ash yells.
"Dodge it and then use Bite!" Moonky is bitten by the arm and he gets poisoned by the Poison Touch.
"Oh man..." Ash groans. "Now even Moonky gets poisoned again?"
"My Gym is a Poison Gym and Poison is my favorite. Now bind him!" Donna says as the Pokemon keeps attached on his arm and then Moonky tries to shake it off.
"Damn it, now it is going to be just like Budcheep...what should I do?" Ash thinks as he notices the trees on top. "Those trees are poisonous, so I couldn't risk Moonky...wait...Moonky was already poisoned."
He starts to form a smirk and says, "Moonky! I have a plan! Use Agility and swing on those trees."
This causes Moonky to grin and Donna to be confused. Moonky tries to jumps on and off the trees and spins around like a wild monkey, and Spidox is getting dizzy.
"Quick, Bite him and slow him down!" Donna starts to panic. Spidox just bites it harder, and it causes Moonky to fall off the tree, much to everyone's surprise. In the end, both Pokemon are found lying on the ground fainted, with the Moonky on top of Spidox.
"Return, Spidox..." Donna says. "That is a crazy idea, since Moonky is already poisoned, the trees aren't affecting him and then he tries to use the nature to attack my Pokemon. Nice thinking."
Ash smiles, "Thanks, but we still have one more Pokemon."
"You're right. Here is my final Pokemon, Feva!" Donna throws the Pokeball with style.
The final Pokemon appears on the field and Ash gets a look at the Pokemon. It looks like a small girl with purple hair and purple dress. Ash smiles, "Since you show me the Pokemon I have never seen before, it is natural that I do the same, here I go, Gardevoir!"
As the Pokemon appears, Alice is surprised and she asks, "Wait, you are using Gardevoir already?"
Donna says, "I have never seen a Gardevoir before, but I can tell that it is strong."
"She is strong, of course." Ash says, "After all, she is one of the Pokemon that I brought here from another region."
"I see, but we will be using this move at our advantage. Use Fever."
As the Pokemon shoots out the move, then Gardevoir suddenly becomes ill. Ash notices that instead of the purple on the face, the face is red and Ash says, "Wait, Gardevoir is burned..."
"Burn? Not Poison?" Pikachu asks in confusion, he thought that
"No, this move is her specialty, it inflicts the burn instead of the poison. But it is also serious as well." Alice sighs.
"Gardevoir, I know you can hold on." Ash says as the Pokemon nods. "Use Future Sight."
As Gardevoir uses the move, Donna smiles, "Let me give you a Punishment for the Future Sight."
Then Feva hits the Pokemon hard. Gardevoir falls down, but it manages to get back up. "Use Fever again!"
"Teleport as quick as you can!" "Keep moving!"
Gardevoir and Feva are having a dodge ball game, but Feva can't hit the Gardevoir, much to Donna's frustration, eventually, Feva is tired.
"Now this is the end." Ash says as Donna gasps, the Future Sight then hits Feva and then it is fainted.
"I am sorry, Feva." Donna sighs to her Pokemon. "I need a bit more training..."
Ash gives Gardevoir a hug, but Gardevoir can't hold on because of the fever. "Take a good rest, Gardevoir." Ash says as he recalls his Pokemon.
Donna also recalls her Feva and then walks towards Ash. "Even though I lost, that was a good battle! I've got a lot more to learn it seems. I'm happy to give you this. That's the official Gym Badge of Serpentine City, the Thorn Badge!"
She shows the badge, which has a pink circle with purple thorns on the outside, Ash takes the badge and thanks her.
Alice and Pikachu come to the battlefield from the stands and Pikachu hops onto Ash's shoulder, nuzzling him. "Stop it, buddy. It tickles." Ash laughs as he pets the Pokemon.
Alice also approaches him and says, "Congratulations, Ash. You won against your first gym in this region."
"Thanks, I couldn't have done it without your help." Ash says as Alice blushes a little.
"It is nothing...You are the one that battles, not me..." Alice says while turning around.
Donna smirks and says, "You know, you two really look like a couple. Maybe you should become one."
The two people are now blushing even redder, before things can become much awkward, Rodney walks into the gym.
"Rodney?" Alice asks.
"Oh, hey, Ash, Alice. So Ash, how did your battle go? I know you will win easily. And nice badge you get there." Rodney says.
"Thanks." Ash says, and then Mr. Bella also comes in.
"Dad?" Donna is surprised. "What are you doing here?"
"I decided to see how you were doing, and I can see that you are doing a good job maintaining the gym."
"Thanks, Dad." Donna says as she turns to Rodney, "So you are my next challenger?"
"Yeah, but you just had a battle with Ash, right? So I think I should wait until your Pokemon is finally healed."
"That is so nice of you." Donna says. Mr. Belle says, "Ash, Alice, I want you to accept this."
As they see a pair of Clippers in his hands, Ash takes the Clippers and asks, "What can we do with this?"
"Simple, your next destination will be the Crestlight City, which needs to go through the Dullfern Forest. Believe me. There are a lot of spider webs on the way." Mr. Belle says.
"Okay. Thanks for the gift." Alice says as they bid farewell to them.
Ash gets his first badge in the Rikoto Region, and what challenges will come after they arrive at Dullfern Forest? Find out in the next chapter.
