In our previous episode. Zeke battled the water type gym leader Misty, defeating her and completing his first gym. With his victory, almost all of our challengers have beaten their first gym. Jax meanwhile, faced many challenges, but pulled through in the end! But will he triumph in his own gym battle?

"Finally! We're here! Settlement November, it's time for me to face my first gym," said Jax as they entered the settlement.

"I heard that all the settlements here in the Insulae Region are based on the Military code used by the Calzei Region in the Great War. There are twenty settlements here in the Insulae Region, but some of the names have been altered," said Mack.

"Interesting, but I can't wait to get to the bug gym and crush it!" siad Jax, punching his fist into his palm.

"You sound so sure," said Camilla. "You already have a strategy to beat the gym?"

"I'll send in Valdez and he'll use Flame Wheel until we win."

"I doubt it'll be that easy," said Mack. "We've already seen a lot of fire and flying types around when we were heading here. I'm sure he has some counter measures in place to defend his Pokémon against those types."

"Fair point," said Jax. "But what can he use? Scizor would be a bad choice because of fire. You can't find any Kleavor in this region. And I don't think they're any bug and rock Pokémon other than Shuckle. And Shuckle would be an easy target with Valdez's speed. Water and bug Pokémon don't live anywhere around here. Wimpod like dark places, Surskits like marshes, and Dewpiders like rainy areas."

"They're are plenty of not fully evolved Pokémon with the bug and rock typing," said Mack. "Dwebble, Anortih. And that's it."

"Exactly, and they're all slow. So what could go wrong?"

Mack facepalmed. "Great, now something is going to go wrong."

"C'mon man, don't be superstitious. It's not like we're on a TV show or anything."

Camilla sighed and shook her head. But she couldn't hide the smile on her face.

Jax looked at Camilla, then he looked at Mack, who was also shaking his head.

"What? Did I miss something?"

He looked at both of them in confusion as they both laughed. He shrugged and continued walking towards the gym.

They eventually made it to the gym. Jax looked at the large building and wondered about the stadium that was built behind it. Pushing these thoughts away, he opened the door and strode in.

He was met with the statue as usual. He raised an eyebrow and pressed the button.

But of course, nothing happened.

"Okay, I'll wait," he said. Tapping his foot.

"Why don't you press it again?" asked Camilla.

"I just have a feeling."

Jax waited there, tapping his foot with his arms crossed.

"Fine! You win. Welcome to the bug type gym. The gym challenge here is simple. In the next room is a tangle of trees. You have to navigate these paths. But be warned, there can be tunnels, pitfalls, sticky substances, and Carnivine. Good luck."

"That sounds rather unpleasant," said Camilla.

"Carnivine are hard to spot, but it's easy to tell where one is," said Mack. "They emit a sweet fragrance that's supposed to attract small bug types to their mouths."

"One more thing," said the statue. "These Carnivine are bigger than normal. In fact, in this gym. You are the bug Pokémon. The small, helpless ones bound to fall into the traps."

"And that's reassuring," said Jax. "Let's go. At least we know what we're up against."

Mack sighed. "For some reason, I feel as if we only know half of what we're supposed to know."

Jax opened the door and confidently strode in, only to end up walking straight into extremely tall grass.

"What the heck?" asked Jax.

"Oh my, this tall grass is twice my height," said Camilla.

"No kidding," said Mack. "This grass must be at least ten feet tall."

"I guess this is how a Caterpie must feel in the tall grass," said Jax. "No matter, let's push on."

Jax shoved the blades of grass aside as he strode through the gym. Mack and Camilla followed behind him.

They eventually cleared the tall grass. At the end, Jax leapt out of the grass.

"Ha ha, a wild Jax Ambrose appeared!"

"Really now?" asked a voice to his left. "Go, Reaper!"

Jax turned in surprise and saw a gym trainer standing there with a Scyther in front of them.

"Ah, a gym trainer. Your bug types won't be able to beat my Monferno! Go, Valdez!"

"Reaper, use Agility!"

"Don't let him build up his speed, use Flame Wheel!"

Valdez ran forward and flipped in the air, creating a wheel of fire. Reaper dodged the attack and quickly flipped around.

"Dual Wingbeat!"

"Dodge it Valdez! Ember!"

Reaper flew at Valdez, his wings flashing. Valdez dodged the attack and threw a burst of flame. The Scyther flew over the fire and circled back.

"Get ready!"

Valdez leaped over Reaper and avoided the wings. He threw a burst of flame again and hit Reaper square on the back.

"That's it. Reaper, use Swords Dance! Then Agility!"

"Don't let it power up! Flame Wheel!"

"Dodge Reaper!"

Reaper dodged again as Valdez tried hitting him with Flame Wheel again. Reaper dodged another Flame Wheel and almost seemed to be laughing at him.

"That's it. Trying to hit it with a barrage of fire attacks won't work. Valdez, use Mach Punch!"

"A double resisted move? Use Dual Wingbeat!"

"Switch it up! Flame Wheel!"

Reaper realized his mistake. He quickly tried to correct his course, but it was too late. Valdez slammed into him and sent the Scyther spinning in pain.

"It'll take more than that to take down Reaper!"

"I know that, use Ember!"

Reaper didn't have any time to recover before Valdez threw a burst of fire at him. Not giving him any recovery time. He threw two more in rapid succession.

With the first hit, Reaper didn't stand a chance. The fire attacks proved too much and caused it to faint.

"I told you winning was impossible. Fire types are superior to bug types."

"You know," said the trainer. "Your attitude towards bug types could cost you a victory."

"Maybe, but I know I'll be taking this gym by storm."

"You know," said Camilla as they crawled through a tunnel. "Maybe your attitude towards bug type Pokémon isn't appropriate."

"C'mon Camillia. How many bug type legendaries did Arceus create?"

"One."

"And it died. How many professional bug type trainers are there?"

"I forget."

"Four," said Mack.

"And which type has the lowest stat averages?"

He was met with silence from both of them.

"Bug. Ranking eighteenth in HP and special attack, sixteenth in special defense, fourteenth in attack, thirteenth in speed and tenth in attack. One of my dads taught me stat averages. So anyways, bug types aren't really that strong. Sure you got the good ones like Scolipede, Scyther, Scizor, Heracross, Golisopod. But other than that, they're pretty average."

"Let's hope you're right," said Mack.

Zeke's Group

Zeke was looking over the map with his team in a Pokémon center, trying to figure out where they should head next.

"I think we should work backwards seeing as we went to the farthest gym. We can go to the flying gym, bug, dark, normal, then rock. That seems most logical," said Zeke.

"I second that. We'll be walking in one, efficient direction," said Cyrus. "We also have a high chance of not encountering any other contestants."

"Is that a bad thing?" asked Carolina.

"Did you see how competitive the two of them were? And the other one is probably the star of the show with his good looks."

"I don't see that as a problem," said Zeke. "I love competition."

"You don't-"

"Anyways," said Carolina, interrupting Cyrus. "I think we should look at this more strategically. The gyms are going to get harder the more we progress right? So we should battle gyms your Pokémon don't have a type advantage against so when the gyms get hard, you can start exploiting the weaknesses."

"True, but boomeranging across the region doesn't sound efficient. Besides, I'll be sure to catch new Pokémon along the way. Speaking of that, I think I should catch a new Pokémon."

"I thought we were discussing about the next gyms we'll fight," said Cyrus.

"True, but we're both in favor of my idea. Majority two thirds. Besides, I think it was about time I caught a new Pokémon. There's a forest nearby, let's head there."

With that, he got up, folded the map and handed it to Carolina, and strode out the room, whistling to himself.

Carolina and Cyrus looked at each other. Both of them shrugged before following him out the door.

"Man this is boring!" complained Cyrus as he sat around. "There's no reception here so I can't play any games."

"Quiet, you'll scare the Pokémon," said Zeke, looking through a pair of binoculars. "Hmm, I was sure there'd be some Pokémon around here. Haven't seen many."

"Maybe the Pokémon are hiding," said Carolina.

"Perhaps-"

At that moment, Zeke felt something land on his head. Before he could react, he was greeted with giant, silver eyes.

Zeke yelled and leapt back in fright, landing on top of Cyrus and bringing him down. Zeke scrambled to his feet and was met with a Natu staring at him.

"A Natu! A very interesting Pokémon with an interesting type combination. A fine Pokémon indeed! Go, Abba!"

In a flash of light, Zeke's Oricorio appeared. The Natu stared at the newcomer with calm, unblinking eyes.

"Alright Abba, use Revelation Dance!"

In a flash, the Natu flew away as Abba let out her signature move. Electricity crackled throughout the forest branches, but missed the Natu.

The Natu's eyes suddenly flashed purple, but nothing happened. Zeke nor Abba took note of the Natu's eyes as it dove at Abba.

"Dodge its attack!"

Abba leapt away as the Natu used Peck. She waved her pom-poms and used Air Cutter, the sharp wind blades hitting the Natu.

"Now, Revelation Dance!"

This time, the Natu wasn't able to dodge. Instead of attempting to, the Natu stayed in place. Abba didn't notice as she readied her electric blast.

Suddenly, psychic energy flew at Abba and slammed into her, interrupting her move and sending her slamming into a tree.

"What the, Abba! Are you okay?"

Abba gave a pained nod as she got to her feet, immediately ready for battle.

"How could the Natu have attacked her? It didn't move at all, and I didn't see a psychic aura around it. Unless-"

At that moment, its eyes flashed purple again. This time, Zeke caught it.

"Ah ha! Abba, it used Future Sight! But to already know Future Sight? Perhaps its evolution was delayed or canceled somehow. No matter, Air Cutter!"

The sharp blades of wind slashed the Natu, leaving it open to another attack.

"Use Revelation Dance!"

This time, the burst of electricity struck the Natu. It crashed into a tree and laid there, fainted.

"Go, pokéball!"

Zeke threw a pokéball at the Natu. It pulled the Natu in and landed. The ball shook a few times and caught it.

"Alrig-"

At that moment, the Future Sight hit Abba again. She shook the pain off and gave a happy chirp.

"Phew, you're okay. But now we have a new team member. I think of a good name for Natu. Anyways, let's continue to the flying gym."

He strode off towards the direction of the gym, his teammates following him.

"Hey, is that a Wingull?" asked Zeke.

"Nope, it's not," said Cyrus quickly.

Zeke took out a pokéball. "Well I see one, and it's mine!" he shouted before running after it.

"Great, more running," complained Cyrus.

Carolina shook her head. "Grow a spine Cyrus."

Jax's Group

Jax was having a terrible time in the bug gym. First, he ended up falling into a "puddle". Then, he stepped on a few leaves that were covering a pit, slipped on some weird yellow substance, got stuck in strands of silk, fell face first into tree sap, and now.

"Help! I'm sinking and you guys are doing nothing!" shouted Jax.

"Calm down man," said Mack. "We're still trying to figure something out. Besides, the maker of this gym wouldn't want people to die. This is probably just a mud puddle from a Caterpie's perspective."

As if to prove Mack's point, Jax's feet touched the bottom. His upper half was still above the mud.

"Yeah that's nice but I'm still stuck."

Mack stepped into the shallows and grabbed Jax's arms. He slowly pulled him out of the mud and dragged him onto the ground.

"I can't appear in a gym battle like this," groaned Jax.

"You're naturally good looking. You'll survive," said Mack.

Jax glared at him as he got to his feet. He continued on, dripping mud.

He pushed through some more tall grass and graciously found himself at the exit.

"Great, we made it. I seriously hate this gym," said Jax. "Camilla, how do I look?"

Camilla hesitated for a moment, not wanting to hurt Jax's feelings. But she figured that it would be more hurtful if she covered it up and he figured it out later.

"You look terrible. You're covered from slightly above the waist down in mud. You have dried yellow slime on your shirt, and face. Your hair is glistening for some reason and is stuck in odd ways. You have string around your feet, and you smell terrible."

Compared to Jax, Mack and Camilla suffered little. Since Jax was leading the way, they were able to avoid all the things he'd been falling into.

"Thanks for being honest. Well, it's not my fault. Let's go."

With that, they walked into the next room. Instead of the usual long hallway before the stadium, they were in a small room with two exits minus the one they went through. There was a person waiting for them.

"Congrats- oh wow you really stink. In the room over there," they said, pointing at a door on the far left. "Is a washroom with all the necessities and a fresh set of clothes. I'd recommend going there. Your old clothes shall be washed and sent with you."

Jax rolled his eyes at the comment. "I already figured I needed one."

Jax walked out of the washroom looking very clean. Instead of his usual jeans and overshirt. He wore a bug type gym trainer uniform.

"Ironic," said Mack.

"Whatever, let's go."

Jax headed out into the stadium, people cheering him from the side. From the other side of the stadium, a man approached him.

The person had green hair and a sharp, cold gaze. He wore a black and orange short sleeve shirt, and a black cape. He had the typical bug catcher hat and a net worn like a sword at his side. When he got closer, Jax realized that the person wasn't a man, but sixteen or so.

"Hello, my name is Kent. I may be young, and not have any experience as a gym leader. Don't underestimate me!"

"Okay?"

"Even though bug types are the least appreciated type ever, brave people broke through the common stereotype that bug types are weak! Bugsy, Aaron, Burgh, and Viola! They are all superb trainers, and I learned from them! I signed up here to prove the entire world that bug types aren't as weak as everyone believes them to be! I traveled the world to hone my skills and trained my knowledge of the bug type. No matter what your Pokémon are, I will win! I have formed the perfect team using only two Pokémon!"

"No matter how perfect your team may be, Valdez will burn through your team."

"I wouldn't be so sure. Ruby! Please start our battle!"

The referee came jogging towards them, and then proceeded to trip and drop her flags. She quickly picked them up and hurried over to where they stood.

Jax couldn't help but notice that the Referee and Kent looked very similar. And Ruby also looked to be fourteen.

"Okay um. Match between Jax and Kent shall begin. Jax is represented by the white flag and the light green flag represents Kent. Basically, the first trainer to have both of their Pokémon fainted loses, each trainer is allowed one switch for this match, and this is a two versus two, one on one formatted battle. Are we ready?" she said, fidgeting with her flags.

"I've been ready," said Jax. Kent simply nodded.

"Then send out your first Pokémon!"

"Alright, go Valdez!"

"I choose you, Hermit."

They threw their pokéballs. Jax's Monferno appeared, while Kent's Pokémon turned out to be a Dwebble.

"Hmm, I was hoping that your Valdez was going to be a pure fire type, not with a type that resists rock, no matter. Rock Blast!"

Hermit slammed her claws against the ground, breaking up three rocks. She swiped the rocks, throwing them at Valdez.

"Dodge them!"

Valdez easily raced between the rocks, closing the distance between him and Hermit.

"What you didn't realize is that you're pairing a slow Pokémon with a fast Pokémon. Even if your Dwebble isn't weak to any of Valdez's moves, you're still at a disadvantage! Mach Punch!"

Valdez sped up and punched Hermit. The small Pokémon had raised her claws to defend herself, and only slid back a few paces.

"You're right. Shell Smash!"

Dwebble's shell glowed brightly before blowing up to pieces. Becoming much faster and stronger.

"Oh? Getting rid of your defenses?" asked Jax. "Fine then, use Flame Wheel!"

"Dodge it Hermit!

Hermit raced forward and easily dodged Valdez's Flame Wheel. She raced towards him and used Rock Blast.

"Mach Punch! Break those rocks!"

Valdez used Mach Punch multiple times, breaking each of the rocks before coming at Hermit.

"Flame Wheel!"

"Smack Down!"

Hermit leaped into the air right at the top of Valdez's Flame Wheel. Before Valdez could stop his spinning attack, she brought her claws down on him, driving him into the ground.

"Rock Blast!"

Hermit slammed onto the ground, bringing five rocks into the air. She launched them at Valdez in rapid succession.

"Ember!"

Moving quickly, Valdez got to his feet and threw a burst of flame at the rocks. He blasted the first three and dodged the last two.

"We have to beat this thing with speedy moves, or else it'll keep dodging! Mach Punch!"

Valdez sped forward and threw a fist. Hermit dodged the attack by leaping into the air.

"Mach Punch!"

Hermit was barely able to dodge the return attack. Almost losing her footing in the process.

"Mach Punch!"

Hermit tried using Smack Down to stop him, but missed and quickly dodged again.

"She can't dodge forever! Mach Punch!"

This time, Valdez managed to hit. Hermit went flying as she failed to dodge his attack in mid-air.

"Don't let up! Flame Wheel!"

Valdez rushed forward and slammed into Hermit in a wheel of fire. Due to the lowered defense, Hermit fainted.

"Hermit is unable to fight, send in your next Pokémon," said Ruby, pointing her green flag at Kent. Jax could tell she was trying to maintain a neutral face and expression. Jax figured they had been hard pressed for a referee to use a family member.

"Rest for now Valdez," said Jax as he returned Valdez to his pokéball.

"Jax is switching out his Pokémon and is out of switches. Kent still hasn't sent out his Pokémon yet so they must send out at the same time," she said, pointing the white flag at Jax. "Send in your next Pokémon."

"Go, Alexei!"

"Out, Virgil!"

Out of their pokéballs came Kent's Heracross and Jax's Eevee.

"Wait, isn't Alexei the Rampaging Rhydon from Ariaman? Why would you name a Heracross that?"

"I named my Heracross after him because of the speed and power behind his charges! Megahorn!"

"Dodge it Virgil!"

Alexei rushed past Virgil as the small Eevee leapt to the side. Alexei dug his feet into the ground and swung his horn around, but Virgil wasn't there.

"How does your Heracross know Megahorn already?" asked Jax, figuring the Heracross couldn't be too high level.

"Through rigorous training and move perfection! Brick Break."

Alexei charged again, bringing his arms down onto Virgil. Virgil dodged again and gave the Heracross a cocky smile before charging at it with Takedown.

"Get back Virgil!"

"Ha, even your Eevee thinks so poorly about bug types! That's going to be both you and your Pokémon's biggest mistake!"

Even though Virgil was being an idiot and rushing head first into battle, Jax couldn't help but be impressed by his skills. Virgil dodged the Brick Break easily and slammed directly into Alexei's middle. He rebounded off the Pokemon and leaped forward again. This time, he used Bite and clamped onto Alexei's leg.

"Get rid of that thing! Brick Break!"

"Get off Virgil!"

Deciding not to show off anymore, Virgil leaped off Alexei's leg and narrowly missed the Brick Break. He leaped back again to dodge another attack and almost lost his footing.

"It's time Alexei, Bulk Up!"

Alexei tensed his muscles, building up strength and defense. Virgil rushed at him to try and stop him from using the move, but he wasn't fast enough.

Right as he was about to reach Alexei and hit him with a Takedown. Alexei gathered power in his horn and rammed Virgil with it. He was sent flying very far, narrowly missing the referee and rolling to a stop outside the main battlefield.

Jax ran to his Eevee, seeing as the poor Pokémon was outside the battlefield limits.

"Virgil, are you okay?"

Virgil miraculously summoned enough energy to fix Jax with a look that said. "I did most of the work. The flaming monkey show-off better win this" before fainting.

"Virgil is unable to fight. Please return to the battlefield and send in your last Pokémon. Unless you want to forfeit," the referee said, pointing her white flag at Jax.

Jax walked back to the battlefield. "No way I'm forfeiting. Virgil's right, Valdez should make sure not to lose. Go, Valdez!"

Valdez appeared in a flash of light, staring down the Heracross. Kent only laughed.

"I don't think you've noticed it, but Alexei's gotten stronger. His ability Moxie! Taking out your Eevee only made him stronger!"

"Well that doesn't matter! Flame Wheel!"

"Aerial Ace!"

Valdez Flame Wheeled past Alexei, dodging the Aerial Ace.

"Ember!"

Valdez landed on the ground and threw a burst of fire. Alexei raised his arm to ward off the flames and rushed at him.

"Megahorn!"

"Flame Wheel!"

Valdez slammed into the horn and pushed against it. Knocking Alexei back, the Heracross recovered and opened his wings, flying at Valdez even faster than before.

"Aerial Ace!"

Valdez leaped to the side and avoided the attack, using Ember afterwards.

"Is that all your Monferno can do? Dodge and attack? Pathetic, use Brick Break!"

"Don't listen to him! Dodge it!"

Valdez crouched down, ready to dodge again. Kent scoffed.

"So predictable. Whip around!"

"Get ready to dodge!"

Alexei charged straight at Valdez, ready to strike. Jax waited for the moment when Kent thought Valdez was going to dodge.

"Flame Wheel!"

The two Pokémon clashed, pushing against each other. Suddenly, Valdez's Flame Wheel intensified.

Alexei was sent flying as the flames pushed and burned him. He skidded on the ground, and laid there, unmoving.

Ruby bent down and looked at the Heracross, her hands shaking. She straightened up and pointed her green flag at Kent.

"Alexei has fainted, Ja-"

Before she could finish, Valdez, who was holding a hand in the air in victory, fell over and fainted. Jax walked up to his Pokémon and picked him up.

"Valdez has fainted. But Jax is still the winner."

The crowd cheered as the announcement was made. Kent turned away from Jax, his jaw set.

"I failed. All of them. Their teaching was wasted on me," he said.

Ruby walked up to him nervously. "Its okay, it's-"

"It's not okay!" shouted Kent spinning around, causing Ruby to cover her face and take a step back. "I was trained by some of the best bug type specialists and I still lost! I failed them, I'm a-"

"Oh stop being dramatic," said Jax.

Kent whirled around and faced him. He was about to say something when Jax stopped him.

"Winning isn't the only thing that matters! Get a grip! You may have lost, but didn't you see how close the match was? I used to think bug types were useless and extremely weak, but you've changed my mind. I thought for sure that Valdez would easily take out both of your Pokémon, but your Heracross almost took out two of mine. You said your goal was to teach the world bug types can be powerful, and you've taught me that!"

Kent sighed and looked away. "Perhaps, you are right. I now confer upon you the insect badge. May this badge remind you of all the things that happened today."

Jax took the badge and shook his hand. "I will."

As Jax walked away from the gym with his team, he heard a voice from behind him.

"You're Jax right?"

He turned around and saw Ruby running up to him with a gift.

"It's from Kent. He wanted me to give it to you."

Jax accepted it and Ruby and she turned and ran. He opened the present and found a small nugget and a note.

"I'll read it out loud for you guys. Dear Jax, thank you for helping me realize that winning isn't the only important thing in a Pokémon battle. I remember something Aaron told me. Winning isn't the only thing that's important in a battle, it's what you learned from the battle. If you win, you can use the experience gained as a way to keep winning. If you lose, you can use that experience as a way to start winning. A beautiful quote if you ask me. With all the people who believe bug type is the weakest type, we have to work extra hard to make a name for ourselves. But I'll keep trying, and maybe we can have a rematch one day. We only get stronger. PS: I didn't really have much to give you, but I had a small nugget that I felt would be appropriate. Bye Jax, good luck on your adventure."

Jax finished the note and gently folded it before putting it in his newly washed shirt pocket. He rewrapped the nugget and stuffed it into Mack's huge backpack.

"That was a beautiful note, but about the nugget, you're not going to sell it?" asked Mack.

"Why bother with it right now? The note is the real treasure."

"Well said," said Camilla.

And that is the end of the Episode, I don't really have anything to say so see you next!