Chapter 73, everybody, and time for the gym battle! Had a lot of fun looking up the various movepools for the different Pokémon and brainstorming how the battles would go, so I hope you enjoy! :D

In other news, we're also doing a bit more now with laying traps and using Pokémon physiology as part of the battle strategy—I figure by now trainers would be encountering this sort of thing, so it makes sense to go full-tilt with Pokémon that have a lot of moves that can act as setups. :D And remember: you can cut the grass in early Pokémon games.

Moving on to reviews: thanks to griffin blackwood, Cyan Quartz, LongNightDragon, Silverwing23, Viruz pirate, Verdauga, epantoja521, and demonicKitsune2 for the reviews! Glad I'm not the only one who found Erika's approach kinda scummy.

Pokémon © Game Freak; Nintendo

And now, for something completely different:

The Shiftry Hit the Party. (slang) Unexpected disaster striking; modern use expands to minor inconveniences occurring. Comes from early exploration of the Hoenn Region, when ambushes by one or more Shiftry were not uncommon.

Ash's hand hovered over his belt, half-listening to the referee going over the rules—three on three, only challenger could make substitutions, blah blah blah….It was taking a bit longer than usual because they were having to consult a rulebook—must have been a good while then. Maybe Erika would be off her game.

Boy he hoped not—he wanted a nice strenuous battle that was worth the effort it took to get here. Feeling like he got a cop-out badge because the leader wasn't at the top of her form would feel…he didn't know. Maybe cheap. He didn't know.

"Challenger has how many badges?" the referee asked suddenly.

Ash blinked a few times, hand already around a Pokéball before he realized what the question was. "Uh, five—this will be my sixth."

Now it was Erika's turn to blink several times. She recovered, waved at an assistant when the referee told her "Gym leader will adjust accordingly." So he was going to be facing stronger Pokémon. Okay, that boded well.

The assistant came back with a tray with three Pokéballs on it. Erika accepted them, nodded to the assistant, who ran back out. Ash started fidgeting as she took her time putting the balls in her sash, almost groaned with relief when she finally turned to face him.

"Don't think because they're Grass types that they won't destroy you," Erika said, eyes narrowed. "You and your Pokémon will be mulch for my garden when I'm through with you! Go, Tangela!"

Okay, Ash reflected as the white light faded to reveal a bundle of vines with feet and eyes, so she had gotten over her shock and was now furious. Okay, he could work with this. "Go, Pikachu!"

Pikachu yipped affirmative and leaped off his shoulder to land lightly on the field, grass up past his feet and tickling his stomach—would probably slow him down a little, but Pikachu was definitely a good opener. Opening with Lenny would have revealed his ace in the hole much too early—or maybe he was the glass cannon, considering his Water typing.

He missed Charmeleon.

"Okay!" Ash yelled, forcing himself back to the here and now. "Pikachu! Agility and Double Team, let's go!"

"Open with Grassy Terrain," Erika ordered.

That seemed kind of pointless to Ash, considering the terrain was already grassy. "Body Slam, Pikachu!"

"Ingrain."

The Tangela stabbed several vines into the ground, and when Pikachu took off, it became abundantly clear what Grassy Terrain had done—the grass was horribly thick now, and Pikachu's speed wasn't blinding like it usually was.

"Grass Knot," Erika added, tone as flat and commanding as it had been—once she was battling, she was no-nonsense, it seemed.

Especially when that last order sent Pikachu tumbling head over heels, coming to a halt right next to Tangela.

"Slam, Tangela," Erika ordered.

"Nnh—Pikachu, Thunder!" Ash yelled—at that distance, it couldn't possibly miss, and it'd be potent to boot.

Even better, Ingrain meant that Tangela was grounded.

The Tangela's attack was aborted by the Thunder sizzling its vines, the Vine Pokémon making an alarmed gurgle at the volts coursing through its body and down its vines into the ground. Ash was hoping for a knockout, or at least, a chunk of health out.

Instead, once the smoke cleared, Tangela's color started returning.

"Ingrain restores health over time," Erika said with a smug grin. "Even if you attack Tangela over and over again, no matter what, they'll still regain health."

Ash ground his teeth at that—Iron Tail could sever it, but then it wouldn't take as much damage from electrical attacks—but Volt Tackle wouldn't work either because it required Pikachu getting up speed, and he couldn't with all this grass! If only—

Wait.

"Pikachu! Dodge back!" Ash yelled, prompting the yellow mouse to leap away, narrowly avoiding a Vine Whip. "Now, jump up in the air and use Thunder on the ground!"

Pikachu blinked at him—understandable, it was a weird order.

"Hit it while it's vulnerable," Erika ordered.

"Start Charging now," Ash told Pikachu quietly.

"Pika," Pikachu noised, cheeks sparking.

He leapt up into the air—

Discharged a Thunder before Tangela could connect—

But connect it did, and when it did its vine acted as a conduit to once again ground the Thunder, albeit straight through Tangela. It was smoking again when Pikachu landed, but not down for the count.

"Okay, maybe we ought to try something different," Ash said. "Pikachu, Charge up and then Discharge!"

Pikachu did so, made the grass sway and maybe smoked the spot he was standing on. Ash scrubbed at his forehead, thinking—

"Vine Whip," Erika ordered.

Nothing happened.

They both looked—Tangela's eyes were squinched shut, vines trembling as it tried to move, electricity dancing along its vines—

Tangela was paralyzed.

Ash grinned. "Perfect. Now jump up and use Thunder on the ground!"

Pikachu did so, arcing high in the air before aiming a Thunder right down at the ground—

"Up it, Pikachu!" Ash yelled.

The Thunder increased in intensity—

When Pikachu landed, he was panting with the exertion of such an attack.

He was also standing on bare ground.

Ash barked a laugh at the sight—like he had hoped, Thunder had done what natural lightning did: fried the grass where it struck. No more super-thick Grassy Terrain.

"All right!" Ash cheered. "Now, Charge up and hit it with Volt Tackle!"

"Energy Ball!" Erika cried, finally losing some of her composure. Tangela struggled to obey—

But Pikachu was already dashing across the field, slamming into Tangela so hard that he ripped it from its moorings. They both went tumbling, landing near Erika.

Pikachu struggled to his feet first, wincing from the impact. Tangela was still flopping weakly, pushing itself up—

"Thunder Shock, Pikachu!" Ash ordered.

Pikachu zapped it one last time, knocking it out for sure.

"Uh…the challenger wins this round! Tangela is unable to battle!" the referee declared, with an apologetic grimace to Erika. Erika simply returned Tangela without a word as Pikachu came back over to Ash's side of the field.

"How you feeling?" Ash asked, kneeling down to rub Pikachu's head. "Think you can do another, or do you want a break?"

"Chaaa," Pikachu noised, leaning into the pet a little before shaking him off and nodding.

"Okay then," Ash muttered, as Pikachu dashed back onto the field.

Erika frowned at him before readying her next Pokéball. "My next Pokémon won't go down so easily."

That was easy? Ash wondered, frowning slightly as the Pokéball arced into the air.

The white light faded to show a yellow plant easily as big as Ash was, maybe big enough to match Brock, with leaves poking out the sides and covering a hole in the top, shading eyes glaring out from…under a mouth, he realized. Victreebel.

Ash hadn't gone into this blind—he had read up on every single Grass Type native to Kanto before coming to Celadon, and one thing that had stuck in his mind about Victreebel was that it was carnivorous and liked to eat Pokémon smaller than it. Like Pikachu.

"Pikachu, return," Ash said; this one wouldn't be as easily bowled over as Tangela. Pikachu twitched his ears back, considering…fidgeted his paws a little before running back to Ash.

"Pi ka ka chu," Pikachu noised, once he was on Ash's shoulder.

"Yeah, I know," Ash said, rubbing his head. "But you needed a break. Okay." Deep breath…."Go, Lenny!"

There had been a lot of agonizing here: Pikachu was always going to be a solid choice, but as for the rest…Vee didn't quite have enough coverage to handle Grass/Poison, and Gastly didn't have the power behind him yet. Frenzy could sweep just about everything, but he was a bit more lumbering now as a Parasect, and he only wanted to pull him out in case of severe emergency.

Which left Patches as a good offense, since he didn't get poisoned, and Lenny, who just had raw power and an Ice-type move he almost knew. But Lenny was also a Flying type, which meant that Grass attacks wouldn't do as much damage to him. He hoped.

Erika actually smirked. "Sweet Scent and then Stockpile."

"Leer then Iron Tail!" Ash called.

Lenny glared, although the effect was cut by a sneeze. He succeeded in making the Victreebel disgusted, at least—which left it open for a slap from Lenny's tail. It bounced off the wall, dazed.

"Swallow, Victreebel!" Erika ordered.

Victreebel convulsed—bounced back up, revitalized.

"Stockpile again, then Magical Leaf," Erika said, as Victreebel bounced back over. The pitcher plant complied, scattering glowing leaves that shot at Lenny.

"Dodge it!" Ash called. Lenny ducked—

The leaves angled back.

"Magical Leaf never misses," Erika said, smiling in the serene way that comes from utter confidence in victory. "Stockpile, and then start laying down traps."

Of course it'd start laying down powder moves. "Nngh—we can't dodge it, so meet it!" Ash yelled. "Use Twister!"

Twister was a move they hadn't yet perfected, but it was worth the chance that it'd get rid of the leaves and the powder to boot. Lenny roared, started twisting about as bright purple and blue energy started gathering—

It was messy and it wasn't perfect, but it succeeded in getting rid of the powder and throwing the leaves off track for a minute.

Only for them to angle right back.

"They won't stop until they hit something," Erika said. "Victreebel, Stockpile again and then set up Solar Beam."

Solar Beam probably wouldn't one-hit Lenny, but it'd knock him for a loop. Plan, plan, they needed a—

"Get behind Victreebel, Lenny!" Ash ordered, jabbing a finger at the plant Pokémon across the way.

Erika and Victreebel both blinked in surprise, which was to be expected when a twenty-foot-long sea serpent tried to hide behind a five-foot-tall pitcher plant. But the plan worked—Magical Leaf slammed right into Victreebel instead.

"You said they wouldn't stop until they hit something," Ash said, grinning.

Erika didn't seem impressed. "Close-range Solar Beam."

Uh-oh.

"Hydro Pump!" Ash yelled, hoping Lenny could react before—

Too late—the Solar Beam slammed right into Lenny's chest as the water leaped into his mouth—water gushed harmlessly between his fangs as he went flying, slamming into the wall and down to the ground.

The referee made to move—

"Call it fair!" Brock warned, alerting her to the fact that yes, there were witnesses who would back Ash up if need be. She hesitated, looked to Erika, who just raised an eyebrow at her and watched Lenny struggle to get back up.

"Come on, Lenny, you can do it," Ash muttered, fists clenched—one hit shouldn't do it like that, should it?

Lenny struggled upright, gave a weak roar. One more hit would do it, maybe. Not maybe—the Pokédex was pinging frantically, signaling that he was just about ready to faint—

Wait.

Ash pumped his fist, determination etched on his face. "One last one, Lenny—get in close and use Flail!"

Lenny dipped his head, surged forward at Victreebel—

"Magical Leaf," Erika ordered.

"Hydro Pump!"

The torrent of water slowed the leaves enough that they didn't do as much damage, slowed Victreebel a little, making it flinch—

And then twenty feet of Gyarados thrashed about, Flailing for all he was worth. Slam the ground, bash a nearby tree—whale on the Victreebel, which was the intent. Victreebel ended up squashed under Lenny, who reared back for another—

"Poison Jab!" Erika called.

"Lenny, look out!"

Too late—Victreebel's vine slammed into Lenny's side, making him convulse—jaws hinged wide open—

"Swallow!" Erika ordered.

Victreebel wiggled—

And Lenny slammed his face down on Victreebel, Crunching down hard. Victreebel squeaked in surprise, glowing honeylike liquid squirting out of its mouth instead of going further inside and doing its job—

And then Lenny fainted, clear on top of Victreebel.

"I can't tell," the referee said after a few moments. "But the Gyarados is clearly fainted."

Ash returned Lenny, peered in through the translucent red top; Lenny was curled inside, eyes closed, poison slowed for now thanks to the Pokéball's stasis capabilities.

"Thanks, Lenny, you did great," Ash whispered, putting the Pokéball back on his belt before looking back up. The referee and Erika were both on the field, looking at Victreebel; Erika finally returned it, and they both returned to their positions.

"Last Pokémon," the referee announced.

Erika glowered, threw out her last one.

Ash's first impression was of a huge flower.

His second impression was that it stunk to high heaven.

"Ugh, what is that?" Ash asked, pinching his nose—the smell was enough to make him physically recoil.

"Oh, you like it?" Erika asked. "That's just the beautiful, unique scent of Vileplume."

Ugh, good night—and judging by the way Pikachu had just rolled off his shoulder, Pikachu wouldn't be doing much here. Patches might be affected by that stench as well. Well, maybe Frenzy—something that stank like death warmed over—wait.

Ash made a snap decision, grabbed a different Pokéball and threw it. "Go, Gastly!"

Gastly emerged, sharp fangs exposed—sniffed a little before sneezing, but otherwise didn't seem as affected as Pikachu was by the stench.

Erika seemed triumphant at the sight of Ash's third Pokémon. "Sunny Day, Ingrain, Sweet Scent!"

Ash squinted as the lights intensified—Sunny Day helped Fire types, which might have been why she was hesitant to use it—didn't most Grass Pokémon have Chlorophyll for a special ability? That sped them up in bright sunlight, but with Ingrain—

Whatever she was setting up, Ash had to get in there before she could. "Use Sucker Punch!"

Gastly slammed into Vileplume, barely moving the huge flower. Okay, Darkrai said that might not work too well for Gastly at the moment. "Shadow Ball!"

Gastly shot a weak Shadow Ball—being in direct sunlight didn't help—got a face full of Sweet Scent and probably something else in the process. Gastly reeled back, coughing.

"Solar Beam!" Erika ordered.

Solar Beam—they had a chance to—

"Dodge!" Ash yelled, his insides suddenly turning to ice—

Because Solar Beam was charging up much too fast, and Gastly was much too close.

Gastly sped away—

"Left!" Erika yelled.

Vileplume adjusted accordingly, blasted Solar Beam right across Gastly's flight path—he tried to adjust, to dodge—

"Right and up!" Erika corrected.

Vileplume lifted its head, Solar Beam just about out—

Hit Gastly and sent him flying, arcing clean over Ash's head before hitting the ground, bouncing twice before coming to a halt.

"Gastly?" Ash questioned waveringly.

Gastly rolled, wobbled up—flopped back down. Ash didn't need the Pokédex to tell him he was out.

"Gastly is unable to battle," the referee said as Ash pulled out his Pokéball. "Winner of this round is—"

"GAS!"

Gastly was glaring across the field, had one last trick up his sleeve apparently.

And it was one Ash didn't like one bit.

"Gastly, no—" Ash started—

Too late—the needle from Curse slammed into Gastly, and from the sound of it, Vileplume was affected now too.

Now Gastly was down for the count.

Ash returned him, looked in his Pokéball. "You know I hate for you to hurt yourself like that," he said to the Pokéball.

But with Curse now counterbalancing Ingrain…they might have a chance.

Ash kneeled down next to Pikachu, who still had his paws covering his nose. "I know I'm asking a lot, what with that smell, but it's up to you to finish it, Pikachu."

"Pika-bleh," Pikachu noised, rubbing his nose one final time before heading back out onto the field, sides saying that he was taking shallow breaths to avoid smelling too much.

"Grassy Terrain," Erika ordered.

"Quick Attack! Stop it!" Ash called. Pikachu surged forward, slammed smack into Vileplume's face—

There was fresh grass on the field, but they were little shoots, not too big—Ash decided a quick follow-up was needed. "Thunder!"

Pikachu zapped Vileplume as hard as he could—

"Synthesis, Vileplume!" Erika called. "Follow with Poison Powder!"

"Thunder Shock!"

"Sludge Bomb!"

"Dodge it!" Ash yelped—Pikachu getting poisoned at this point would be the last thing they needed—

Pikachu dodged away—the Sludge Bomb missed—

But Vileplume succeeded on Synthesis.

"Growth," Erika ordered. "And then set up the powders."

"Agility and Double Team," Ash said to Pikachu, deciding to switch tacks and give Erika's overwhelming setups a try. "Charge and then Thunder Shock on the powder, Quick Attack whenever it gets ready to use a move."

Pikachu nodded, sped off—

"Grassy Terrain," Erika called.

"Stop it, Pikachu!"

Pikachu leaped straight up, shocked Vileplume silly, stopping it from giving the grass any more of a boost—landed in a thick coating of grass. Great this wasn't helping, had to think of something—

"Use Iron Tail!" Ash ordered. "Spin around!"

Pikachu did so, succeeded in cutting the grass around him and giving him some space to avoid a move like Grass Knot again—

"Solar Beam," Erika commanded, the attack once again charging too quickly by dint of Sunny Day.

"Dodge it, Pikachu!"

"Grass Knot to stop it."

"Use Dicharge as a shield!" Ash ordered desperately, trying to figure out a way out of this. Pikachu wasn't able to dodge as effectively thanks to the Grass Knots, and Vileplume was able to just keep firing off Solar Beams, Erika telling it where to aim—there had to be something he was missing, some way to beat it—wouldn't a move like Solar Beam have a recoil? He didn't think Vileplume was sturdy enough, it was way topheavy—

Wait.

Wait that was it! It was using Ingrain to stay anchored and—

And he knew how to fix that.

"Pikachu!" he barked. "Get in close and use Iron Tail on the roots!"

"Don't let it get close!" Erika ordered, expression saying she had guessed his intent. "Flood the area with powders!"

"Discharge!"

Discharge dispersed the various effect powders long enough for Pikachu to get close, slicing at the roots—the Vileplume got ready to put them back down, shuddered as Curse struck—

Pikachu took the initiative and shocked it silly, hitting it with Thunderbolts until it keeled over in a smoking pile. And then poking it to see if it was really out.

"Pika pi!" he chirped happily at Ash, right before the referee called it.

"Vileplume is unable to battle, challenger Ash wins," the referee said, wincing apologetically at Erika as she returned Vileplume. Ash watched, figuring he'd wait to have his moment of glee until after he had the badge in hand.

Erika sighed, dug into her sash, held out the badge but made no move to meet Ash halfway—Ash sighed, figuring she could have it, jogged across the field, sneakers sinking into the soft grass and upturned mulch. Made it across, looked up at her on her dais, held his hand out for the badge—

The far doors banged open and something that looked like a dragon crossed with a mushroom bounded across, keening a high-pitched breeeee as it sped towards Erika.

Ash wasn't the only one who jumped, but it was Erika who asked "Taka? What's wrong?"

Ash smelled it right before the alarms started blaring—saw the smoke pouring into the greenhouse from the hall—

And then one of the assistants ran in.

"The gym is on fire!"