Getting The Bugs Out!
"Arca!" A fiery aura surrounded Arcanine as the canine quickly shot across the field before slamming against a Mega Scizor.
"S-Scizor..." The Mega Scizor slowly dropped to a knee before collapsing onto his side, swirls filled his eyes as he reverted back to his regular state.
"And that's all she wrote folks, Gary's Arcanine swept Bugsy's entire team! Gary's definitely come a long way since his Indigo League performance, whatever training he went through between then and the start of the Silver League definitely paid off!" The crowd cheered in celebration of Gary's feat while Ash watched from inside the stadium's waiting room. He awoke bright and early in an attempt to beat the crowd but Gary had miraculously beaten him there.
Gary soon entered the room, tossing a badge that resembled a ladybug up and down as he walked along. A sly smirk formed across his face as he made eye contact with Ash. "Too slow Ashy boy, I've got four badges already!" Gary whipped out his badge case and placed the ladybug badge alongside the Zephyr Badge and two others that Ash hadn't seen before.
"I've gotten stronger too, Gary. Don't forget that Pikachu and I won the Orange League!" Ash tried countering. He usually wasn't one to brag but he couldn't help himself when it came to his childhood best friend and rival.
"I haven't forgotten, Ashy boy." Gary smirked while placing the badge case back into his leather jacket. It appeared he also found the time to get a new look as he'd ditched his purple shirt and blue jeans while replacing them with a black leather jacket and light brown cargo pants. Ash wondered how Gary had the time to do everything that he did before it hit him.
'Oh right, Gary owns a car!' Although Ash would love getting from place to place quicker, it'd take the fun of adventuring away and prevent him from encountering new additions to his team like Noctowl and Houndoom.
"I saw your match against Falkner, you won with Pokemon to spare but it was nothing compared to my personal best!" Gary boasted while retrieving his Rotom Phone to show Ash a brief clip. Gary's Electivire could be seen knocking Falkner's Mega Pidgeot out with a powerful Thunder Punch attack while the scoreboard behind them showcased three unused Pokeball slots for Gary's team while Umbreon and Blastoise's screens were still lit up indicating they hadn't lost. Ash's eyes widened as he faintly gritted his teeth while clenching his fists. Gary had certainly gotten stronger, if he wasn't careful Gary might actually win the Silver League and become the champion and if that happened then Ash would never hear the end of it.
"Gary? I'm a Champion now, Ashy boy! You may refer to me as Gary Oak, Champion of the Kanto and Johto regions!" The fantasy Gary laughed.
"I best be off, the Goldenrod City Gym is calling my name." Gary gave Ash a light wave as he began exiting the room. "Smell ya later, Ashy boy!"
"That Gary..." Ash's fists lightly clenched once more as Gary walked off.
"Pika..." Pikachu patted Ash's shoulder in an attempt to calm him down. Ash took a deep breath before turning to face Pikachu.
"You're right, we've got a Gym battle to complete so we can catch up to Gary!"
"Pika!"
"And we're back! Bugsy's freshened up his team and is ready for his next challenger but first a word from our sponsor!"
"Scyther!" What appeared to be a Scyther wearing a pizza costume flew above the crowd while sprinkling coupons down onto them. "Scyther Scyther!" He excitedly chanted.
"This match is brought to you by Little Scyther's Pizza! Order today and get a free two liter with any purchase!"
"Scyther Scyther!" Scyther chanted as he flew out of the stadium.
"Bugsy's next challenger also hails from Pallet Town. He's the son of former Champion Red Ketchum along with being a former Orange Island Champion and winner of the Indigo League, give a round of applause for Ash Ketchum!" The crowd burst into applause as Ash stepped onto the field. Bugsy gave Ash a smirk of acknowledgement as the pair locked eyes.
"This Gym battle will be utilizing the Professional League's standard ruleset. Each side will use six Pokemon and may only swap Pokemon mid-battle three times and once a Pokemon's used a selection of four moves they must stick to those four moves for the duration of this match. Lastly you're only allowed one usage of a regional gimmick. Contestants are you ready?"
"Ready!" Ash and Bugsy shouted simultaneously.
"Then you may release your first Pokemon on my mark, get set, and GO!"
"Heracross I choose you!"
"Heracross, I need you!"
"Huh?!" Ash and Bugsy did a doubletake upon realizing they sent out the same Pokemon.
"Hera!"
"Cross!" The two Heracross gave each other challenging looks however there was one minor difference between the two that stuck out as the tip of Bugsy's Heracross' horn resembled a heart.
"I didn't know Heracross had different shaped horns!"
Bugsy smirked while lightly shaking his head. "That's because mine is a female Heracross, female Heracross have heart shaped horns." Bugsy explained. "Alright Heracross use Megahorn!"
"You use Megahorn as well!" Ash shouted out.
"Cross!" The Heracross' horns turned bright green as they clashed against each other, both Heracross gritted their teeth as they pushed back against the other in a desperate bid to overwhelm the other. Both may be Heracross but they weren't exact clones of each other, Bugsy's Heracross lost her footing for a brief second which was all Ash's needed to slam her against the ground.
"Cross!" Bugsy's Heracross grunted out.
"Close Combat!" Bugsy shouted.
"Cross!" Heracross lunged across the field and lashed out at Ash's Heracross, delivering powerful punches from up close.
"C-Cross..." Heracross gritted his teeth.
"Aerial Ace!" Ash swiftly called out.
"C-Cross!" A white glow surrounded Heracross' body as he slammed against his opponent, the force pushed her away from him.
"Aerial Ace!" Bugsy shouted.
"Counter!" Ash countered.
"Cross!" Heracross planted his feet into the ground as his body began to slow, Bugsy's Heracross attempted to slam into him only to bounce right off resulting in her blasting across the field until she came into contact with the stadium's wall.
"Cross..." Bugsy's Heracross painfully grunted out, swirls formed within her eyes as she fell onto her back.
"Alright Heracross!"
"Pikachu!" Ash and Pikachu cheered for their teammate.
"Heracross!" Heracross smirked as the crowd cheered.
"And Bugsy's Heracross is down! Heracross wasn't used in the previous battle so it's clear that Bugsy has switched up some team members between matches."
Bugsy silently returned Heracross to his ball before reaching for another. "Yanmega, I need you!"
"Yan yan!" Jessie couldn't help but squeal at the sight of another Yanmega while James, Meowth and Wobbuffet all tried to calm her down and get back to helping them sell snacks to the hungry spectators.
Ash lightly clenched his fists at the sight of Yanmega, he knew from previous experience that Yanmega was Bug/Flying thus most of Heracross' attacks would barely be effective. Heracross had already taken some hits from the previous battle and was at a complete disadvantage so perhaps it was best to recall him for now.
"Heracross return and rest up for now, we might need you later."
"Cross!" Heracross smirked while disappearing back into his ball. Ash grabbed hold of another Pokeball before tossing it into the air.
"Sandslash I choose you!"
"Slash!" The Alolan Sandslash burst onto the battlefield, there was still a bit of gasping out upon his reveal but it wasn't anywhere close to how it'd been at Violet City.
"Ancient Power!" Bugsy shouted.
"Yan!" A silver energy orb shot out of Yanmega's mouth and flew across the field, making direct contact with Sandslash's body.
"Slash..." Sandslash grunted out as the attack pushed him back.
"Use Blizzard!" Ash shouted while throwing his arm forward.
"Slash!" Sandslashed outstretched his arms as a fierce flurry of snow and ice began flowing across the field, pelting Yanmega.
"Night Slash!" Bugsy ordered.
"Yan!" Yanmega shot across the field, his tail began glowing bright purple as he took a swing at his target.
"Counter with Gyro Ball!"
"Slash slash slash!" Sandslash curled up into a ball and spun in place before shooting across the field, meeting Yanmega head on!
"Y-Yan!" Yanmega cried out as the two crashed against the ground, Sandslash grunted out and uncurled from his ball before scurrying back to Ash while Yanmega laid against the ground with swirls visible within his eyes.
"Amazing, Sandslash just knocked out Yanmega! Bugsy's lost two Pokemon while Ash has yet to lose a single one, will Ash's luck hold up or will Bugsy's next Pokemon put an end to his luck streak?" The announcer cried while the crowd cheered.
Bugsy frowned but maintained a cool head. "Yanmega return! Alright no more toying around, Pinsir I need you!"
"Pinsir!" The Bug gave Sandslash a menacing look as he burst from his ball. Bugsy then flashed Ash a light smirk as he touched his tie, revealing a Key Stone.
"Pinsir let's show Ash and his lovely girlfriend-" Chloe shivered as an uncomfortable expression formed upon her face. "Our true strength, Mega Evolve!"
The bright pink light consumed Pinsir's body as he began his transformation into Mega Pinsir. "Pinsir!"
"Earthquake!"
"Pinsir!" Pinsir slammed his foot against the ground causing a powerful vibration to flow across the field.
"S-Slash..." Sandslash shook while attempting to maintain balance.
"Blizzard!" Ash shouted out.
"Slash!" A fierce blizzard of snow and ice whisked across the field, pelting Mega Pinsir's body.
"Sir..." Pinsir lightly grunted out.
"Superpower!"
"Sir..." An orange aura surrounded Mega Pinsir's body as he lashed out and smashed his fist against Sandslash's head, the force was strong enough to knock Sandslash off his feet and send him flying across the battlefield where he landed in a heap before Ash's feet.
"S-Slash..." Sandslash began sweating as he stood back to his feet. Ash gritted his teeth and clenched his fists. He didn't want to force Sandslash to come back but the field was heavily unbalanced, Sandslash was tiring out and was lucky to survive that punch meanwhile Pinsir was in near perfect shape thanks to his Mega form.
"Sandslash return for now and rest up, we might need you later." The ice mouse didn't bother fighting it as he returned to his ball, seemingly knowing that he'd met his match.
"Houndoom, I choose you!"
"Houu!" Houndoom howled out as he burst onto the battlefield. Bugsy gritted his teeth and swiftly recalled Mega Pinsir.
"And it appears that Bugsy isn't willing to risk losing his Mega this early in as he's switching out for another member of his team!"
"Forretress I have need of you!" Bugsy shouted while throwing another ball forward, revealing a red spiked Pokemon that hid within a rocky sphere.
"Forretress!"
"Whoa, never seen that one before!" Brock commented while Ash and Chloe both pulled out their Rotom Phones to read up on the creature.
"Forretress the Bagworm Pokemon, Forretress conceals itself inside its hardened steel shell. The shell is opened when the Pokemon is catching prey, but it does so at such a quick pace that the shell's inside cannot be seen."
"Autotomize!" Bugsy shouted.
"Forretress!" Forretress exclaimed while shedding away parts of it's rocky exterior.
"Use Flame Charge!"
"Houuu!" Flames engulfed Houndoom's body as he sprinted across the field, snarling out as his eyes locked onto his target.
Bugsy's eyes widened, the boy briefly froze up before a sly smirk crossed his face. "Explosion!"
"Houndoom get out of the-" Ash quickly called out but it was too late, a large explosion engulfed Forretress and spread towards Houndoom who was too close to retreat fast enough causing him to get blasted sky high!
"Houn!" Houndoom howled out before collapsing against the battlefield, swirls formed within his eyes as he laid in defeat while Forretress laid in a similar fashion.
"And it appears that Bugsy made a swift decision, removing Forretress of the board to eliminate Ash's Fire type. That was smart but costly, will it be enough to turn the match around?"
Ash clenched his fists as a light hint of frustration briefly showed itself, blaming himself for what happened. "Houndoom return! Don't worry about what happened, it wasn't your fault. We'll get them next time, take a rest." Ash returned Houndoom to his ball and took a deep breath before hurling another ball forward while Bugsy did the same. "Froakie I choose you!"
"Shuckle I have need of you!"
"Shuckle!"
"Froakie!" The two cried out as they burst onto the field.
"Use Water Pulse!"
"Froa!" A large pulse of water erupted from Froakie's mouth and splashed onto Shuckle.
Shuckle lightly shook while uttering an uncomfortable grunt.
"Stone Edge!" Bugsy shouted.
"Shuck!" Sharp jagged stones erupted from the ground and shot towards Froakie, closing in on the frog Pokemon.
"Dodge with Bounce!"
"Froa!" Froakie leaned forward before springing into the air above the battlefield, just narrowly missing the rocks as they crashed where he'd stood a few seconds ago. Froakie then flashed his opponent a smirk as he flew towards him.
"Withdraw!"
"Shuck!" Shuckle quickly retracted into his shell to avoid getting stomped on.
"Fire Water Pulse into the shell!" Ash shouted out.
"Froa!" Froakie landed on the shell and placed his mouth against one of the holes before proceeding to fire a powerful blast of water directly into the shell!
"No!" Bugsy clenched his fists.
"Shuckle!" Shuckle cried out as the water splashed against him from all sides, his head soon extracted from the shell revealing his unconscious form as swirls filled his eyes. "Shuckle..."
"Alright Froakie!"
"Pi Pikachu!"
"Froakie!" Froakie beamed at Ash and Pikachu.
"Incredible, Ash's Froakie managed to make quick work of Shuckle! Froakie's really proving himself to be a solid member of Ash's tea-Say what's happening to the little guy?" The announcer asked as Froakie clutched at his chest.
"Froakie, you okay?" Ash stepped forward, concern visible across his face as he worried for his friend.
"Pika pi?" Pikachu's ears flattened while the mouse tilted his head.
"F-Froakie!" Froakie cried out as a bright blue light consumed his body.
"Whoa!" Ash's eyes lit up as Froakie's body began changing, the frog began doubling in height while a dark blue marking formed around his eyes and stretched out across his back making it look as if Froakie were wearing a mask. More frubbles formed around his neck and some excess frubbles hung off his body as if he wore a scarf while the same dark blue markings formed on his front feet.
"Frogadier!" The newly evolved Pokemon excitedly croaked out.
"Whoa, Froakie's evolution is so cool!" Ash gasped out as stars filled his eyes.
"Pika..." Pikachu trailed off in agreement with his trainer.
"Frogadier the Bubble Frog Pokemon, it can throw bubble-covered pebbles with precise control, hitting empty cans up to a hundred feet away!"
"That's so cool!" Ash gushed.
"Pika!"
"Froga..." Frogadier smiled at his trainer while feeling quite pleased that he'd found somebody capable of bringing out his full potential. He felt a powerful aura emitting from somewhere causing him to look around with a brief look of confusion as he didn't see a Mega Pokemon anywhere. "Froga?" Frogadier asked himself before shrugging, figuring that he was mistaken.
"Ash's Froakie just evolved into a-" The sound of rustling paper could be heard as the announcer attempted to find the species name. "Frogadier, amazing! I can't wait to see what he's capable of!"
"That makes two of us! You wanna keep going, Frogadier?" Ash eagerly asked his newly evolved Pokemon, fists clenched as a large smile sat on his face.
"Froga!" Frogadier gave Ash an eager nod.
"Heh, we'll see about that." Bugsy smirked while grabbing hold of another ball. "Shedinja I need you!"
"Shedinja!" A cicada exoskeleton burst out and levitated over the battlefield, Ash and Pikachu couldn't help but shiver the Bug type gave off a rather creepy and unsettling presence.
"W-Who's that Pokemon?"
"P-Pika...?"
"And it appears that Bugsy's final team member is his Shedinja! But don't forget that even if Ash beats it, there's still Mega Pinsir to worry about!"
"Shedinja the Shed Pokemon, Shedinja is a peculiar Pokemon. It seems to appear unsought in a Pokeball after a Nincada evolves. This bizarre Pokemon is entirely immobile, it doesn't even breathe!"
"That's just creepy." Chloe shivered.
"Eevoi..." Eevee shivered.
"Absorb!" Bugsy shouted out while forming a light smirk.
"Shedinja!" A green beam of light fired from Shedinja's body and struck Frogadier, sapping away some of his energy.
"Froga..." Frogadier grunted as he felt his energy leave his body.
"Ice Beam!"
"Froga!" A beam of ice fired from Shedinja's mouth and struck where Shedinja was however rather than hit him, the attack went straight through the Ghost without him even fading away or utilizing an attack!
"What?!"
"Pika?!"
"Frog?!" Ash, Pikachu and Frogadier gasped out.
"W-What the heck just happened?!"
"Wobbuffet?!" Team Rocket's jaws dropped as they watched from the stand.
Cross watched without the slightest hint of reaction.
"And it appears that Bugsy's Shedinja strikes again! Leaving most challengers confused as Shedinja's the only known species with the Wonder Guard ability!"
"Wonder Guard? What's that?"
"Pi Pikachu?" Ash and Pikachu tilted their heads.
"Bzzt, hey champ! Wonder Guard prevents you from hitting Shedinja with attacks that aren't super effective against it." Ash's Rotom Phone exclaimed from within his jacket.
"So I'd have to use-Frogadier use Bounce!"
Bugsy clenched his fists while uttering out a light grunt of frustration. "Absorb!" He hastily shouted in a desperate bid to take Frogadier off the board before he struck.
"Shedinja!" The green light shot from Shedinja's body and struck Frogadier, sapping away more of his health. Frogadier grunted out but managed to push through it, flashing Shedinja a smirk as he crashed his feet up against his ghastly shell! "Shedinja!" Shedinja crashed against the ground and laid on his back, a light groan echoed out before silence hit.
"And down goes Shedinja! Incredible, Frogadier's really proving himself today!"
Bugsy swiftly returned Shedinja before grabbing Pinsir's Pokeball. "Pinsir, I really need you. Come out and fight!"
"Pinsir!" Mega Pinsir reemerged onto the battlefield and clashed his pincers together as he gave Frogadier a menacing look which Frogadier calmly returned.
"Superpower!" The orange aura reappeared around Mega Pinsir as he shot across the field while lunging at his target.
"Dodge and counter with Ice Beam!"
"Froga!" Frogadier swiftly evaded the attack before blasting Mega Pinsir with a beam of ice. The Mega Pokemon shivered while uttering out a grunt of displeasure.
"Hyper Beam!" Bugsy desperately shouted.
"Pinsir!" The orange-yellow energy blasted shot from Pinsir's mouth and flew across the field, exploding against Frogadier and knocking the frog back a few inches.
"Froga..."
"Bounce!"
"Froga!" Frogadier sprang back into the air, his feet aimed towards Pinsir as he prepared to strike.
"Guillotine!" Bugsy swiftly countered.
"Sir!" Pinsir eagerly snapped his pincers together.
"Dodge and use Smokescreen!" Ash swiftly ordered out.
Fortunately Frogadier had enough time to adjust his fall, purposefully overshooting his target before turning to face him.
"Frogadier what are you doing?" Ash questioned as he saw orange energy form within Frogadier's hands before eventually gasping out as Frogadier launched a rock at Mega Pinsir! "W-Was that Smack Down? You learned Smack Down?!"
"Froga..." Frogadier lightly smirked before nodding at his trainer.
"Sir!" Mega Pinsir grunted before faceplanting against the ground as the rock smacked against his back with great force. "Sir..." Mega Pinsir slowly rose back to his feet and leered at Frogadier but the frog merely gazed back with a calm look.
"Froga..."
"Focus Energy then follow up with X-Scissor!"
"Sir!" Pinsir closed his eyes as he began focusing, his eyes then quickly shot open as a green glow surrounded his pincers. "Sir!" Pinsir flew across the field and slashed at his target, Frogadier attempted to dodge but it wasn't fast enough as his leg was lightly grazed.
"Froga..." Frogadier gasped while dropping to a knee before collapsing to his side as swirls formed within his eyes.
"And Frogadier goes down!"
Ash smiled as he returned Frogadier to his Pokeball. "You were amazing out there, Frogadier. Take a good long rest." Ash fixated his gaze on Mega Pinsir while grabbing another ball. "Noctowl I choose you!"
"Hooot!" The shiny owl cried out as he burst onto the battlefield.
"And Ash's fifth choice is a shiny Noctowl, and a rather small one at that!"
"Alright Noctowl let's get things started with Sky Attack!"
"Hooot!" A burst of light blue aura surrounded Noctowl's body as he swiftly swooped across the field before crashing directly into his opponent, knocking Mega Pinsir right off his feet!
"P-Pinsir..." Mega Pinsir grunted out as he collapsed onto his back, swirls formed within his eyes while the bright pink light engulfed his body as he reverted back to his standard form. It appeared that his previous battles had tuckered him out and Noctowl's Sky Attack finished what Sandslash and Frogadier started.
"Well that was rather abrupt." The announcer spoke. "But Ash managed to successfully beat Bugsy's team and has earned himself the Hive Badge!" The crowd cheered loudly with Chloe, Brock and Team Rocket being the loudest.
"Our twerp did it!"
"Wobbuffet!"
"Go Ash!" Brock shouted.
"Alright Ash, six more and you'll be ready for the Silver League!"
"Eevoi!" Cross remained silent but formed a light smirk upon Ash's victory.
Ash smiled and waved up at his friends before turning to face Bugsy as the Gym Leader walked towards him. Bugsy seemed a bit upset that he lost twice in a row but he took a deep breath and managed to smile while offering the Hive Badge out to Ash. "That was a well fought battle, Ash. You certainly proved yourself my superior, you're definitely worthy of the Hive Badge and the lovely Chloe's heart!" Chloe shivered as Bugsy's words made her uncomfortable. "Take good care of them both."
Ash didn't like how open Bugsy was about his feelings for Chloe but he let it be, Bugsy was just a kid and Chloe made her disgust quite clear. There was no reason to get worked up about it unless Bugsy actually tried something. Ash thanked Bugsy and accepted the badge before showing it off to his team as he performed his signature pose.
"Alright, we just got the Hive Badge!"
"Pi Pikachu!"
"Hooot!" Pikachu and Noctowl posed alongside their trainer while the crowd roared loudly.
"Ledyba!"
"Sparce!"
"Shuckle, shuck shuck!"
"Furret!" Several Pokemon were playfully chasing each other about Ilex Forest when a large green circle made of some unknown energy formed in between them. The four Pokemon gasped out from fright before running away as the energy intensified. As soon as the Pokemon were out of view the energy suddenly dispersed to show an unconscious individual laying passed out against the ground, the figure being quite familiar as she was a mirror image of Chloe!
I didn't mean for Ash to sweep the first two Gyms but considering his roster, it's hard reasoning why he shouldn't beat Falkner and Bugsy without purposefully going in with Pokemon weak to the attacks. The other Gyms will be more balanced as Ash doesn't exactly own a lot of Pokemon that can sweep them while Chuck has an edge to help against Flying types.
I'm definitely going to learn from this and be slower with the Emerald Hero's handling, he won't be going into Sinnoh with a stacked team ready to stomp Roark and Gardenia haha. Especially as I've plotted releases for him, they're actual character advancements though. Not doing it for the sake of doing it like how Ambipom was thrown into the trash haha, poor Ambipom...
Speaking of which, you can expect Delta Emerald soon.
But up next, movie time! The GS ball secrets are revealed, Cross and Ash stumble across a girl that looks precisely like Chloe, Masked Marauder, Celebi and much more appear :D
"Someone really don't want to sellout the Masked Man next time use a Psychic." I have a psychic OC and intend on using him at some point, I see all my fics taking place within the same multiverse so everyone has counterparts running about. Or at least ones I enjoy, Luna won't appear outside this universe :P. I just don't have a story in mind for him and he's usually more associated with another character than he is with Ash. Besides I honestly don't see Shade willing to work with Masked Man, Masked Man's goals are more 'self serving' while Shade craves power and is also psychopathic. Yveltal, Masked Man and J are enough as far as main antagonists go for this story.