Disclaimer: I own nothing but Ad.

This is chapter 3. So far, the gang have got one badge, and helped a girl called Eliot evolve her Chansey into Blissey. But they face a new challenge in...

The HM Gym

"We're almost out of the forest." Misty sighed in relief. "Thank God that's over."
"I thought you said," Ash said, puzzled, to Ad, "that we had to do something special to get to the second AlternativeLeague gym."
"Yes," confirmed Ad, "and it's just here."
In front of the group was the Forest Shrine.
"Alright!" cried Ash. He ran towards the shrine, but unfortunately he failed to notice the large sapling in front of him. He was sprung backwards into the tree behind him.
"Wow." Brock thought for a moment. "This is a really strong sapling. I don't know how we shall cut it."
There was silence for a second.
"I don't know how we shall CUT it," repeated Brock.
There was a slightly more strained silence here.
"Look, could one of you please just cut down the sapling?" asked Brock.
"Oh, Cut,"said Misty. "I've got it. Starmie, go!"
Starmie burst out of its PokéBall. Misty cried, "Use Cut!"
The starfish Pokémon started spinning, and flew into the sapling. It snapped.
"Why didn't you just do that before?" said Brock, irked.
"I didn't hear you," said Misty.
"Yeah - there was this small echo which must have been your voice, but nothing else. Like the wind was taking it away," pondered Ash.
"What wind?"
"That wind," gestured Ad. The doors to the Shrine were now open; Ad flew into them. There were some sounds like old plumbing for a moment, and thenthe Shrine was consumed in a bright light.
Ash felt dizzy; he felt rather as if he was being split to pieces and pulled through the shrine.
A moment later, he was lying on his back in a strange field. There were boulders, saplings and lakes everywhere. A woman towered over him.
"Come on, you need some rest. And I think your Pokémon do as well."
"Who are you?" asked Ash, sitting up and rubbing his eyes. The woman kneeled down.
"My name is Mint. I'm the Ilex Forest gym leader, but I also own a nature park. I moved to the inside of the shrine they built for me, and in return I stop evil from overcoming the forest." Mint smiled. "It's a good deal, I reckon."
"Mint! How glad I am to see you again." called a voice. Ash turned his head. Ad was floating towards them.
"Ad!" said Mint in surprise.
"You know her?" said Ash to Ad.
"Know her? We are Gym Leaders in exactly the same League and you don't think I know her?"
"Well sorry," said Ash sulkily, "but since your Gyms are so far apart, I thought it seemed a sensible question."

"Did you see how they just disappeared into the shrine like that?" said Jessie.
"How do we follow them?"
"Using the Super-Megnamatic-Shrine-Door-Buster!" saidMeowth triumphantly.
"Since when did we have a Super-Megnamatic-Shrine-Door-Buster?" said James, puzzled.
"I bought itfrom an online auction site yesterday," replied Meowth, and withdrew a long machine with a mechanical hand on the end. He pressed a button on the machine, and the hand extended towards the shrine doors. It paused, and then flung the doors open and quickly retreated.
"Is that all?" asked Jessie. "I was expecting something more then tha-"
And there was a glow, and they were split into pieces and pulled through the air.

"Where's the gym then?" asked Misty to Mint.
"This is the gym. We fight in this huge field." replied Mint. Ash looked around him.
"It looks really hard to navigate."
Mint smiled. "Not for my Pokémon."

Mint and Ash were lined up on opposite sides of the field. Brock held a flag up at the side.
"This will be a three on three Pokémon battle between Mint of the Ilex Forest gym, and Ash Ketchum of Pallet Town. Battle, commence!"
"I choose you, Heracross!" said Ash, throwing up the PokéBall. Mint plucked a ball from her belt.
"Pokémon, I choose you!" she said. Ash was puzzled; he couldn't see the Pokémon Mint had just called.
Suddenly, a boulder just a few metres from where Heracross stood smashed into pieces. Heracross looked around quickly, and just managed to catch Diglett disappearing into a hole.
"Where has it gone?" said Ash, looking around. Heracross felt a small piece of rubble come up from underneath. Suddenly, it shot into the air, making Heracross flinch. Diglett popped up underneath it.
"What?" said Ash, taking his Pokédex out.
"This attack is called Dig," it said.
Ash typed in "can you smash rocks with it?"
"No," replied Dexter, "this attack is called Rock Smash."
"Don't patronise me,"frowned Ash, and the Pokédex emitted the auditory equivalent of a shrug.
"Concentrate on the battle!" cried Misty. Ash raised his head to see Diglett pushing a large boulder over Heracross. It was trying to resist, but its power gave out and it fainted under the weight of the rock.
"Strength,"explained Dexter.
Ash ran over to where Heracross was buried."Heracross! Are you alright?"
"Hera...hera hera," it replied. Ash sighed in relief. "Heracross, return."
"Ready yet?" asked Mint.
"I'm just getting warmed up! Go, Squirtle!"
"And I choose Mantine!" cried Mint. ThePokémon burst out of its ball, and dove into a nearby pool. Squirtle jumped in afterwards.
"Use Whirlpool!" shouted Mint. Mantine started to spin around. The water began to form into a vortex.
"Surf around it and knock Mantine in!" called Ash. Squirtle crashed into Mantine, and the raywas about to be sucked in.
"Use Whirlpool again!" said Mint. The whirlpool broke to pieces.
"Well done, Mantine! Now use Waterfall!"
A stream of water fell from a wall of boulders, and crashed into Squirtle. There was a silence. Then, Squirtle popped up again, barely able to battle.
"Yes!" cried Ash.
"Finish it off with Lock On and Fly, Mantine!" said Mint. Mantine flew upwards, locked onto Squirtle, and swooped.
"Hide behind the waterfall!" called Ash. Squirtleslowly crawledbehind the waterfall as Mantine approached. As it smirked and began its final dive, Squirtle rolled over behind the waterfall, and, because of the Lock On, Mantine could not steer away. It glided into the falling water and fainted.
"This is tense," said Jessie, who was watching from behind a boulder. "Whoever wins the final battle wins the match!"
"So it won't be long till we know which Pokémon to snatch!" said Meowth with an evil grin.
"This final battle will determine the match winner!" yelled Brock from the sideline. "It will be one-on-one. Opponents, battle!"
"I choose you, Snorlax!" shouted Ash, whilst Mint called out a Typhlosion. Snorlax was a lot bigger than he was the last time he battled, and ready to fight for once. Ash smiled as he thought. "This'll be a doddle." Snorlax ran straight at Typhlosion. He tripped over a sapling, and almost crashed into it. Typhlosion stepped backwards, bewildered.
"Whoa." Mint cupped her hands round her mouth. "Cut that sapling down before that happens again, then Cut Snorlax!" Typhlosion smashed the sapling, and swiped Snorlax with its claws. Snorlax almost lost its balance in pain.
"Alright!" cried Mint. "Now use Flash to finish it off!" The Typhlosion's flame suddenly brightened up, and thehuman observershad to raise their hands to their eyes to avoid being blinded. It was all too much for Snorlax, and he fell over - right onto Typlohsion. Mint stared in disbelief asAshwas declaredthe winner.

"Good match!" said Mint to Ash. "Here's the badge."
Ash looked at the badge. It was a square, with a tree on one side, the Sun and clouds on the other, a pool of water on another, and a boulder on the final one.
"It's the HM badge. See. The tree is Cut, the Sun Flash, the clouds Fly, the pool Whirlpool, Waterfall and Surf, and the boulder Strength."
"Okay..." said Brock.
"I think we should go now. We've done all we can here."
"Bye Mint!" said Ad. "See you in the next League meeting!"

And so, with the second badge under his belt, Ash walks off from his adventure, friends following, to a new journey.