Chapter 44 Rematch with Barker
Ash and Lillie heard about the opening of the Battle Mall, and they decide to check it out. But much to their surprise, they see a man and the one that stands next to him is no other than Team Portal Admin: Barker, the one Ash, and Lillie fought in the Game Corner.
?: The Battle Mall is now...(Cutting the ribbon tied to the gate.) OPEN!
After that's done, everyone goes into the Battle Mall, leaving Ash and Lillie the ones outside as they are stunned by the appearance of Barker.
Ash: What is Barker doing there?
Lillie: Don't tell me that this Battle Mall is just like BCC...we have to stop him.
As they enter the Battle Mall, they are in awe at how big it is, and they even find the one who announces the mall opening in front of the gate.
Ash: Excuse me, we are looking for a person, can you help me?
Lee: (Turns to Ash and Lillie.) You're looking for the Gym Leader here? That will be me.
Ash: (Shocked) Wait, what? You're the gym leader here?
Lee: My name's Lee. Since the Battle Mall just opened, I'm making sure everything is set up correctly. I can accept your challenge soon. In the meantime, you could have a look around yourself, and explore the canyon north of here.
Lillie: Thanks, but we are actually here to see if Barker is still around.
Lee: Barker? Ah, he is upstairs, two people have been talking to him. Maybe you'll be able to catch up to them if you hurry.
Ash and Lillie thank him as they rush upstairs, and they see that Emily and Gladion are faster than them as they are already demanding questions from Barker.
Emily: I heard you say your name was Barker?
Barker: Indeed, that's correct. Do you have business with me?
Gladion: Barker as in the admin of Team Portal named Barker?
Barker: (Surprised.) How did you know of my affiliation with them?
Emily: Felicia mentioned you to Ash and Lillie, and then Ash and Lillie told me about your operation in the Game Corner.
Barker: Hm...I wasn't aware Felicia had met Ash and Lillie. And who might you be?
Gladion: I'm Gladion, Lillie's brother, and this is Emily, Ash's sister. We'd take you on ourselves, but Ash and Lillie are on the way, and I think Ash and Lillie have more history with you than I do.
Lillie: Brother? Emily?
The three people turn around and they see Ash and Lillie there.
Emily: Oh hi, Ash and Lillie! We were just talking about you. Barker here has a promotional event going on where anyone who can beat him in a battle gets the HM for Strength. But since he's with Team Portal, I doubt that's all that's going on here.
Barker: I assure you, that's genuinely all it is. I understand that you may not agree with our actions, but we have lives outside of Team Portal. Setting up places like this happens to be a part of mine. I was eating dinner one day when a thought suddenly occurred to me. "Sinnoh has a Battle Hall as part of its Battle Frontier. What if there were a Battle Mall, where trainers could share their items to help others in battle?" That's where the concept for this place originated.
Ash: Really... I hope it is not something like the BCC or the Game Corner, where you either try to steal the items or pick up the items lost on the beach.
Barker: Anyway, as your sister stated earlier, a trainer who can defeat me will be rewarded with Strength. You're certainly welcome to try.
Lillie: Ash, I'll battle him, you got the battle last time and it's fair that I do it this time.
Ash: Okay, Lillie. I trust you to win this.
Barker sends out his first Pokemon, Barkus, it was before a Growlithe, but now it is an Arcanine. Lillie goes for Drednaw to battle the Pokemon, but much to her surprise is that it can use Thunder Fang, which deals a lot of damage.
Lillie: Use Brine!
The Pokemon shoots water at the Pokemon, but after dealing damage, Arcanine's Special Defense suddenly raises because of Luminous Moss. But in the end, Drednaw uses Rock Tomb to defeat the Pokemon.
The second Pokemon for Barker is Lucario, it has the Black Belt to power up its Fighting Type moves. Lillie switches to Torkoal to battle, but she is surprised that Lucario can use Bone Rush to deal a lot of damage. Lillie has Torkoal go for Overheat, which manages to deal some damage.
Barker: If you think you can defeat me like this, you're wrong. Use Aura Sphere.
Torkoal uses Iron Defense to stop the attack, and then it finishes Lucario with Body Press.
Barker: It seems like you are as strong as Ash. But this time I have my full team. My third Pokemon is Daisy.
She sends out Granbull to battle, and she decides to go with Aggron to battle. Much to their surprise, it goes for Close Combat, which deals a lot of damage to Aggron.
Gladion: This is not good...
Ash: I think Lillie has a plan. She'll be fine.
Lillie goes for Metal Burst, which eventually knocks out Granbull in the end.
Barker: I'm safe to assume that you learn this from Raymond. This is one of his tricks. But I think my next Pokemon is going to defeat you. Charlie.
The fourth Pokemon for Barker is Boltund, and it goes for Thunder Fang to knock out Aggron. Lillie goes for Torterra to battle the Pokemon. Boltund goes for Play Rough, which deals a lot of damage, and with the Charm, it is lowering Torterra's Attack, but Torterra manages to land Earth Power, knocking it out of the battle.
Barker: I see you have a nice Torterra. Here is my fifth Pokemon, Rocky.
The fifth Pokemon is Lycanroc, unlike Ash's and Gladion's the Lycanroc is in Midday form. It sets up Stealth Rock so that Lillie is hesitating to switch out.
Lillie: But Torterra is a Grass Type and Ground Type, I shouldn't be so worried about it.
She has Torterra use Leaf Storm, but the Rock Slide from Lycanroc makes it flinch and unable to use moves. In the end, the Crunch attack causes Torterra to be defeated, much to their surprise. Lillie then switches into Copperajah, using Body Press and defeating the Pokemon.
The final Pokemon for Barker is Duke, his now Stoutland. Lillie switches to Bewear to use Arm Thrust on the Pokemon, but Stoutland uses Reversal to give back the damage, but in the end, Bewear lands a Hammer Arm, knocking it out of the battle.
Barker: So be it. (Recalls Stoutland.) We may be enemies, but this situation has no relevance to that. You've earned this.
Ash and Lillie obtain the HM for Strength, and then they put it into the bag.
Barker: I'll be taking my leave now.
Barker then leaves the four of them alone, and they look at each other with surprise.
Emily: Maybe we were too quick to assume the worst… it really does seem like all he was here for is the opening of the Battle Mall.
Lillie: It reminds me of Felicia back at Wonky Woods. She just wanted a friendly battle and didn't even report it.
Gladion: We still have to be careful around them, but I guess we don't need to be so confrontational when they're not actively doing anything wrong.
Emily: We're going to see what we can find here. It seems like these vendors have been waiting a long time for this place to open.
Then Ash and Lillie bid the two siblings farewell, and they also check out some items in this Battle Mall. They are in awe at how many things they are selling, and they are delighted to find the items they need to evolve their certain Pokemon. Ash purchases a King's Rock and evolves Slowpoke into a Slowking, and both Electrizer and Magmarizer evolve Magmar and Electabuzz into Magmortar and Electivire. Lillie evolves Rhydon into Rhyperior with the Protector, Sneasel into Weavile with the Razor Claw, and Dusclops into Dusknoir with the Reaper Cloth. While they are purchasing the items, they also notice the Nosy News on the television screen.
Nosy Nosepass: Good whatever time of day it is for you, viewers! I'm Nosy Nosepass here at Nosy News, keeping you up to date on the latest happenings in the Ceolis region! This is just a quick follow-up to the latest story to clarify a few things. First, I forgot to mention that Dylan and Tomas have been acquitted. They'll keep their Gym titles and will face no legal consequences.
Ash: It is a good thing that he clarified, or else there is going to be no job for Dylan and Tomas.
Lillie: Being hated by the public is the last thing that we want to happen.
Nosy Nosepass: Second, I'm unsure how my last broadcast was taken, and how well I reported on the event. I got worried that viewers might think I was taking sides. Some might think I was taking Dylan and Tomas' side by saying that their actions were more defensible than the Game Corner thieves', and Team Portal's. Others might think I was unintentionally encouraging viewers to assume the worst with the comment about a lot of shady activity lately. I wanted to reassure everyone that it wasn't my intention to make anyone feel that way. I thought that if I made statements understanding both sides, it would balance out and make me look impartial. And I do genuinely understand both sides. I haven't received any criticism for the way I reported, but I did want to clear up any misunderstandings since I started to doubt myself. That's probably why it slipped my mind to mention the acquittal. I've been a controversy-free reporter throughout all of my careers and I plan to keep it that way!
Lillie: So this news is nothing important but an apology...I guess we have stayed enough in Battle Mall.
Ash: Yeah...
Nosy Nosepass: In other news, there have been two avalanches in the Norall area: one at Norall Mountain Base and one at Norall Mountain! It's going to be inconvenient if you were planning on going there, but it's what we've come to expect of Norall. Even in summer, the cold and snow of Norall don't let up! Crews are working on clearing it though, so hopefully, it won't be long before Norall opens again! This has been Nosy Nosepass! Thank you for listening in!
Lillie: So Norall is simply a snowy city, and the gym leader there might specialize in Ice-Type.
Ash: Are you sure? I mean, not all snowy cities have Ice Type gyms, I mean, in Galar, there is Circhester that is snowy, but the gym there is a Rock Type.
Lillie: Fair enough.
Ash: But I think that's all we can learn from the news, let's go to see what we can find before we can have our Gym battle.
Lillie: Didn't Emily say that Jim is having a tour in Premoggin Canyon? How about we go find him? I am sure he will be happy to see us.
Ash: That sounds like a great idea.
They leave the Battle Mall as they are heading to Premoggin Canyon.
Here is a new chapter, and we have a rematch against Barker in this chapter. I hope you like this chapter and the next chapter will be a rematch against Jim, the first Gym Leader.