Chapter 38

Typically, entering a new town was a bit of a highlight for Ash. After traveling for days, there was nothing quite like going into a new town they had never been in before and see what was waiting for them. This time, when they entered a town known as Dark City, they found that it wasn't exactly welcoming them with open arms.

True to its name, the town seemed to have a sinister aura around it that sent chills down Ash's spine as they walked through the main road. There was destruction everywhere, and it looked as though a tornado had gone through it. Even the sign that told them the name of the town hung on one hinge. The buildings were all clustered together and made of wood, giving it the feel of one of those old western movies. But one thing that stuck out was that there wasn't a soul around.

"This place gives me the creeps," Brock stated, verbalizing the thoughts that Ash had been having. "It's the middle of the day and there's nobody around. What's the deal?"

"Yeah..."

The foreign sound of laughter erupted through the silence, and a door up ahead swung open as a young child who looked to be three ran out. His arms were open with delight as he laughed loudly, but his mother was quickly in tow, and scooped him up in her arms.

"Get back inside this house right now! What if there are Pokémon Trainers out?!" she scolded before rushing back inside with the child under her arm. This statement made Ash and Brock stop in their tracks, and their eyebrows shot up to their foreheads.

They barely had time to register what had just happened before a handful of rocks rained down over them from above. Ash put his arms up instinctively as they fell down around them, and he hissed as he took in a sharp intake of air when one of the rocks hit his forearm and left a red welt. When the assault was over, he whipped his head up and saw three shadows up on the roof on the building nearest them duck down behind the top. "Hey, you!" he yelled angrily. Drawing a Poké Ball from his belt, he threw it into the air. "Go, Wartortle!" The flash of light from the Poké Ball brought light to the town for just a moment before his starter Pokémon appeared from it. "BubbleBeam!"

"Wartor... TOR!" Wartortle took in a deep breath and jumped high into the air before releasing a stream of bubbles from its mouth at the roof. The bubbles exploded upon impact, and cries of fright sounded before three figures rolled down the slanted roof and fell off. They landed one after the other on a stack of hay in a pile, and the three gasped when they saw them.

"They're... little kids!" Brock exclaimed. Ash and Wartortle exchanged nervous glances and the Trainer knelt down and hesitantly held out his hand to reach to help the kids.

"I'm sorry! But you guys were throwing those rocks at us!" he reasoned.

"Tor!" Wartortle added, looking curiously at the three as they glared at them.

"You guys are Pokémon Trainers, right?" one of the boys asked, and Ash smiled and stood.

"Yeah! My name's Ash! I want to become the world's greatest Pokémon Master."

"I'm Brock, and I want to become the world's best Pokémon Breeder," Brock introduced. The kid's face iced up instantly, and he stood and pulled out a Kendo sword from underneath the hay stack they had landed on. The pair hardly had time to react before the boy brought the sword down on their heads. Hot pain radiated at the area of impact, and the two Trainers held their head where the boy had struck them. Wartortle seemed conflicted, wanting to protect its Trainer but not wanting to hurt the children at the same time.

"Hey, kid! Cut it out, will 'ya?!" Ash yelled, having been forced onto his backside.

"We don't care who you are! If you work with Pokémon, you better get out of our town now!" the kid demanded, and his friends stood up and nodded in agreement. Ash angrily stood up and clenched his fist.

"Why?! What's wrong with Pokémon?!"

"Stop it, boys!" an adult voice scolded, and Ash looked up to see a man wearing a turquoise apron jogging up to the scene. "I apologize," he said to Ash, and placed his hand on the leader's head. "These children don't mean to cause you any trouble." He gave them a nervous smile and folded his hands together in front of his body. "Come to my restaurant, and I'll explain everything."

"Well... okay..." Ash agreed, and recalled his Wartortle back into its Poké Ball. Since the man had come running out of his restaurant to stop the confrontation from going any further, they didn't have to go to far to go into it. Inside was like an old-time saloon, but the place was empty aside from someone dressed head to toe in the corner so there wasn't a single ounce of skin showing. The restaurant owner sat them down at a round wooden table and offered them something to eat on the house since it was his son and his friends that had caused them trouble. Brock ordered curry, and Ash ordered an omelet after a hearty thank you. The man smiled at the young boy, but looked as though he hadn't smiled in a really long time, and went into the back kitchen to make it. Meanwhile, the boys sat at the counter with a soda and a straw, and they all sat in silence and glaring at the pair while they waited for their food to come out.

It wasn't too long before the man stepped out with some plates on a platter. He handed the kids their own food choices before he turned and walked over to Ash and Brock's table. A look on his face showing that he was lost in thought as if he didn't know where to begin, and so as he placed the food down on the table, he took a deep breath and began. "In Dark City, there are two Pokémon Gyms: the Yas Gym and the Kaz Gym. The two Gyms are in the middle of a gang war, and they'll hire any wandering Pokémon Trainer as soldiers to battle for them."

"I get it. So that's why there's no one out on the streets here," Ash pondered, and poured some ketchup on his omelet, and glancing over quickly as the person in the corner attempted to drink from their coffee, but realized they had a mask on over their mouth and stumbled with it. He cocked an eyebrow before turning back to Brock when his traveling companion began to speak.

"But, I don't see; what's the point of fighting each other like this?"

"They claim that whatever Gym wins will become an official Pokémon Gym," the restaurant worker replied somberly.

"That makes sense. Becoming an official Pokémon Gym's a big honor." A loud ruckus outside in the streets was foreign – as it had been a ghost town up until then, but the three kids and the restaurant owner all tensed up when they heard it.

"It's them!"

"The Yas and Kaz Gyms are fighting again," the older man told them. "If you don't want to get dragged into this, you better go upstairs and hide." Ash and Brock hurried up the stairs, with the ladder grabbing his hat and the ketchup bottle in one fell swoop and closed the door behind them when they got to a room overlooking the main street. The boy looked down and saw the ketchup bottle in his hand, but it was too late to put it back now, and simply put it in his pocket for later. Pressing their face against the windows, they saw two groups of uniformed gang members on either side. One wore an all blue uniform and the other wore an all orange one with a green apron on the front. Each held the first letter of their respective Gym. It was a lot to take in, but they had looked just in time to see each gang leader order their Pokémon to attack.

The blue-uniformed leader of the Kaz Gym ordered a Pokémon covered in yellow fur and black stripes to attack with an electric attack, and it gave a cry before blasting yellow electricity from its antenna out at the opposite Gym members. They cried out as they were electrocuted, and bolts of lightning also struck out and hit the surrounding buildings, breaking windows and glass. The opposite leader told his Pokémon – a green Bug Pokémon with large scythes for arms – to attack. The fast Pokémon disappeared, and when it reappeared behind some Kaz members, they fell, and not only did they, but some houses nearby crumbled as well.

Citizens ran in terror with their hands near their heads to avoid fatal blows, while mothers carried struggling and crying children to safety. "Is it always like this?" Brock asked the three children, who were urged upstairs by the restaurant owner as well, and they all nodded at the same time with hardened looks on their faces. "Now I can understand why everybody around here hates Pokémon Trainers." Ash could see as well, and looked on angrily at the terror and destruction that was wrecking havoc on the town.

"Those bullies... They don't even understand what it really means to be a Pokémon Trainer..." A loud crash downstairs caused all of them to turn around, and everyone exchanged looks before they slowly and quietly as they could opened the door and snuck out. They could hear talking, and when the group of five peered over the stairs, they could see the restaurant owner had been knocked onto the ground and tables had been knocked over.

"I-I'd like to, but you see... The Kaz Gym hasn't paid its bill in over two years-"

"So you're denying the Kaz Gym members service?" one of the men with brown hair that stood straight up asked rhetorically.

"Give us the food we've ordered, or else," the other man demanded, stepping forward in an attempt to intimidate the man.

"I'd like to, but I can't!" he said with his hands up innocently. "I don't want any trouble! Please leave me alone! I don't want any trouble!"

"By denying us food, you've already caused it!" the first man who spoke up declared, and both of them took out Poké Balls and threw them forward. "Raticate, go!"

"Go get him, Kingler!" Both Pokémon appeared in front of their Trainers and uttered out cries before leaping at him. The restaurant owner cried out and shuffled backward in order to create distance, but Ash and Brock were already storming down the stairs.

"Stop them, Wartortle!" the Pokémon Trainer cried, but before the Poké Ball left his hand, Brock threw his own Poké Ball forward.

"Go, Vulpix!" It wasn't often Brock called on his prized Pokémon, and Ash's eyebrows raised to his cap as his head twisted to look at Brock's Poké Ball.

"Vulpix?!" he repeated. Unable to believe it, the Pokémon that came out of the flash of light was indeed the red Fox Pokémon, and with a high-pitched cry, it let out a powerful Flamethrower attack that not only incinerated the Kingler and Raticate, but their Trainers as well. Both brown and burnt to a crisp, they let out a puff of smoke before turning tail and running back outside with their Pokémon close behind. Off to the side, the figure in the trenchcoat had not been affected by the disturbance, and although they had moved off to the side when the tables were knocked over, they stood with their cup in their hand, and sipped from it. Apparently, in the action, they forgot they were wearing a mask, so now there was now a brown stain on the front of it.

"Don't come back anytime!" Ash joked with a smile as they disappeared from view. Grunting from behind him made Ash remember the man, and he turned around to see the three boys helping him up. "Are you all right?"

"Thank you for saving my restaurant," the man thanked, and all four smiled up at Ash.

"Aw, it was nothing," Ash replied bashfully with a hand behind his head.

"That was great!" In the doorway, a young lady with curly blue hair underneath a red and white cap wearing a version of the Yas Gym uniform stood with her fingers folded together by her cheek. "I saw everything that happened!" Ash looked at the girl only for a second before Brock jumped in between him and the girl.

"Excuse me, is there someway we can help you, miss?"

"Those were some of the strongest body guards from Kaz Gym! How did you overpower them so easily?" she asked, and stepped further into the restaurant. "You must be a very gifted, very famous Pokémon Trainer!" The compliment made a blush creep up on Brock's face, and a familiar mask donned on it that made Ash sigh in annoyance. "Please! Please! You must tell me your names!"

"G-gee, that's very nice!" Ash sputtered, once again scratching the back of his head.

"Don't use your real names..." the restaurant owner quietly whispered to the pair from behind, and only saying it loud enough for them to hear. "You both seem like nice kids, and if you get caught up in this gang war, it could ruin your reputations as Pokémon Trainers." The older man had a point, and Ash sputtered to think of a name, but he was put on the spot, so he moved his hand back by his belt, and when he did, he felt the ketchup bottle from earlier still there.

"Uhh, ketchup?" Ash muttered aloud, remembering the bottle that was there.

"Ketchup?" the girl repeated in disbelief, but Ash shook his head and crossed his arms.

"Uh, no. My name is really Tom Ato!" Silence filled the room, and Ash looked over at Brock who was still staring star-struck at the young girl, and he jabbed at the older of the pair with his elbow. Brock snapped back into reality and cleared his throat.

"Oh, a-and my name is Caesar Salad!" The girl folded her fingers together again upon learning their names and gave them a wide smile.

"Oh, Tom, Caesar! Would you consider joining our cause at the Yas Gym?" she questioned. "Unlike those animals from the Kaz Gym, we at Yas are truly worthy of becoming a Pokémon Gym!"

"Uh, well..." Ash began, frowning and looking uncomfortably at Brock as he didn't want to just flat out say no. "You'd better ask Caesar-"

"We'll do anything we can to help!" Brock droned like a zombie, and Ash let out a groan and fell onto the floor as he bounced up to the girl in the overalls and she smiled at him greatly. Brock just couldn't say no to a pretty girl...

o 0 o

Ash begrudgingly followed the Yas girl and Brock to the Yas Gym. The Gym was located teetering on the border of a thick forest and the end of Dark City itself. An old Japanese-style building, it was the nicest looking building that Ash had seen in Dark City – mostly because it was the only building he hadn't seen without some form of destruction.

The capped girl brought them to the shōji doors of the entrance and slid it open. Inside, men of all similar builds all glanced in their general direction, and their looks weren't exactly welcoming, but this didn't stop them from continuing to work out. They were all lifting weights of some kind, and they all looked pretty intimidating overall. So much so that Ash opened his mouth and gasped audibly. "Wow..."

"Please, come on in!" the young lady who brought them here said sweetly, and as Ash looked back at her, it was clear now that they were here how much she stood out among her peers.

They walked past the Gym Trainers and she opened up another shōji which opened to a separate room. Inside, the leader of the Yas Gym that Ash recognized from the small brawl they had in the street was hunched in the back of the room. He too was also lifting weights, and his Pokémon was sitting with its blade-like arms crossed. The man didn't even look back, but the young lady knelt down and bowed her head respectfully. "Yas Leader, let me introduce you to a great Trainer," she said, and then gestured to Ash beside her. "This is Pokémon Trainer Tom Ato. He's brought his disciple here to help us.

"H-he brought me?!" Brock stumbled quietly, and Ash chuckled nervously before turning back ahead. The leader didn't even look up or acknowledge them, and the girl continued.

"I saw them defeat the body guards from Kaz Gym like they were nothing!" she continued. "They're really strong Trainers!"

The Yas Leader finally placed the dumbbells on the ground as his way of acknowledging them. "I'll decide just how strong they are." Suddenly, he whipped his head around and glared at them. "Scyther, go!" His Scyther was up in an instant, and it bounced at Ash and Brock with a loud battle cry while raising one of its arms high in the air.

"Scyyyytheeerrrr!" it screeched. Instinctively, Ash reached down for a Poké Ball and grabbed and held it forward, but he gasped when he realized it wasn't a Poké Ball in his hand, but the ketchup bottle from the restaurant. He flinched and expected to feel his body split in half, but instead, Scyther feinted and sliced just a bit in front of Ash, but just so happened to slice at the ketchup bottle. The bottle was cut in half and its contents spurted out and flew onto Scyther's face and eyes. It blinked in confusion, and turned around to look at its Trainer. It locked eyes with him and growled as more ketchup went into its vision.

"Scyther! What is it?" the leader of the Yas Gym asked, and through instinct alone, he jumped backward as Scyther quickly closed the distance between them and sliced through the air. The two tussled for a moment with Yas dodging Scyther's attacks of blind rage, and he finally sidestepped and managed to get away from his rampaging Pokémon. Acting fast, he pulled out a Poké Ball from his overalls and pointed it at his Pokémon. "Scyther, return!"

"Scyytherrr!" the Pokémon screamed right before it was sucked into the Poké Ball. The man stood frozen with his hand up in the air, and he closed his eyes and sighed.

"That's the first time my Scyther has been frightened so badly. You are a powerful Trainer." Yas pocketed his Poké Ball and approached Ash and Brock. Now that he was standing beside them, they could see just how much he towered over them.

"Well..."

"You must work for me," Yas stated, cutting Ash off. "I need your strength."

"First, I have one thing to ask you." The boy took a step forward and continued. "Why is it so important that this should become an official Pokémon Gym?"

"That answer should be obvious," the man replied with a smirk. "What faster way is there to make money in today's world, than by becoming an official Pokémon Gym."

Ash stared at Yas for a small amount of time before he lowered his head and hid his eyes in the brim of his cap. "Well, if that's your reason, I won't become your bodyguard."

"What?"

"Pokémon are not just tools for fighting, or a way of making money. And I know! Because I plan on becoming a Pokémon Master!" The leader of the unofficial Gym didn't say anything, and just blinked in disbelief at Ash, so the boy turned away. "I won't help you." And with that, he walked away, but couldn't help but smirk at himself. That was dramatic, he thought proudly as he walked toward the door. No sooner had he thought that, however, did he step on a spot of ketchup on the mat that made up the floor, and his foot came out from under him, and he let out a cry as he fell to the floor. "That was pathetic!"

"If you won't join us, we'll make sure you don't help anybody else!" Yas said angrily. "Yas Gym, attack!" As Ash pulled himself up, hidden doors on either side of the room opened up, revealing uniformed members of the Gym, and some of them were armed with Poké Balls. Four Poké Balls all rolled on the floor and surrounded him, and when he next blinked, he was surrounded on all four sides by four different Fighting-type Pokémon – a Mankey, a Hitmonchan, a Hitmonlee, and a Machoke. He opened his mouth and let out a scream as the Pokémon all dove in and started to pummel him, but Brock thought fast, and while they were busy being entangled in their own limbs, he quickly scooped up his injured friend and dragged him out of the Gym as fast as he could.

o 0 o

Brock brought Ash back to the restaurant, which seemed to be the only safe place in town, and the restaurant owner provided Brock with a med-kit to help Ash's injuries. Lucky for him, despite being surrounded and pummeled by four powerful Fighting-type Pokémon, Ash's wounds were minimal.

"Wow, that was a close one..." Ash murmured as Brock ran his hand along his forearm to make sure he didn't have any broken bones. They were on the second floor of the restaurant to hide from any other members of the Gym that may have followed them, and the three kids from earlier followed them up.

"That Yas Gym plays rough," Brock agreed.

"The Kaz Gym does the same – they're both the same," the blue-haired leader of the group of kids spoke up.

"They think Pokémon battling is like plain ol' fighting," the Pokémon Trainer said sadly. "Imagine if they became an official Pokémon Gym."

"Kaz and Yas keep getting stronger Pokémon!" the kid stated. "And they wreck our town with their fighting."

"If this keeps up, people will think all Pokémon Trainers are dangerous," Brock said as he closed the med-kit and tossed the garbage from the bandages they placed on Ash's cheek in the trash.

"Yeah, that Scyther is really scary..." Ash thought back to the whole events again, wondering how Scyther was able to be stopped so easily. Scyther jumped at him, and he meant to counter with his Pokémon, but instead... Suddenly, he let out a gasp and realized. "Ah! Ketchup!" As everything clicked together in his head, he pulled out his Pokédex and brought up Pokédex entries for both Scyther and Electabuzz, the Pokémon he had seen on the Kaz Gym's side of the turf war.

"Scyther and Electabuzz are both rare Pokémon. They are able to distinguish colors, and become enraged by the color red."

"Like the ketchup!" Brock realized, who had been leaning over Ash's shoulder to learn from Dexter as well.

"Scyther is the Yas Gym's strongest Pokémon, and Electabuzz is the Kaz Gym's strongest Pokémon," the kid told Ash. The Pallet Town native took in air as the beginnings of an idea started to form in his mind, and finally, he smirked as he closed the cover to his Pokédex.

"If we work together, we might just be able to beat them."

o 0 o

Enlisting the three children and the restaurant owner to help, Ash and Brock got to work setting up the town road all according to Ash's plan. With the owner's permission, they gathered together all of the restaurant's supply of ketchup and put them all into barrels before lifting them onto the roofs. They also grabbed any buckets of red paint they could from the local hardware store, and bought supplies to build ramps on the roof of the buildings on either side.

All the commotion didn't bring out anybody else from the town to help, but the occasional head would peek out from behind closed blinds. It was clear that most people in this town were scared out of their wits, and Ash found it his mission to put an end to it. At long last, everything came together, and all they had to do was wait for the two Gyms to come together once again.

The restaurant owner had caught wind of a rumor that a Pokémon League Inspector would be coming to Dark City, so each Gym would be determined to run the other out of town. Sure as the sun, an eerie silence fell over the already quiet Dark City, and soon, both Yas and Kaz Gyms were marching from either side of the city to meet in the town road. Finally, the showdown was beginning.

Watching from the rooftops and hidden behind the slants, Ash and company watched as the two groups – lead by the Leaders of their respective Gyms – approached and stopped with some space between them. They glared at each other before Kaz spoke up. "I'm only gonna say 'dis once to youse' guys: Kaz Gym's gonna be the official Gym of Dark City! Save yourself the trouble and just clear out now!"

"I'm afraid you have things all mixed up; you're the ones who had better clear out, and fast!" Yas shot back. "Leave now or we'll crush you like the slimy insects you are!"

"Ooh, now you're gonna be sorry you ever heard the name of Kaz Gym!"

"Today's the day we finally destroy you once and for all!"

The dirty talk seemed to have gotten Kaz all riled up, as he clenched his gloved fists and was shaking with anger. "I've heard enough!" In an instant, he drew his Poké Ball and threw it forward. "Electabuzz, goo!" But Yas was fast and prepared as well, and countered with his own ball.

"Get them, Scyther!" Two bursts of light on either side of the road flashed and the yellow and green Pokémon appeared in front of their Trainers. More pops echoed through the empty streets as their followers backed them up with their own Pokémon. From the Yas Gym's side, a Mankey, Machoke, Hitmonchan, and Hitmonlee appeared from their respective Poké Balls and swarmed Kaz's Electabuzz as they had done to Ash just an hour earlier.

"Electabuzz, send 'em flying wit' a ThunderPunch!" Kaz commanded. Electabuzz clenched and flexed its muscles as the Pokémon swarmed it, and yellow sparks sparkled around its antenna and down its arms, and it let out a cry before swinging its arms wildly. All four Pokémon were knocked backward and onto their backs.

Meanwhile, on the other side, Yas's Scyther was being bum-rushed by a Kingler, Raticate, Golem, and Rhydon. "Don't give in, Scyther! Power up with Swords Dance and Cut attack!" Scyther originally had its arms up in a protective stance, but it lowered them and began to spin around and around, faster and faster until it was a blur, and it suddenly stopped with its blades up now. The scythes shimmered in the daylight briefly before Scyther dashed forward and swept by with a slash that was so powerful, not only did it knock the Pokémon it was facing down, but it also collapsed a nearby building.

Completely ignoring the Pokémon that were now face-down on the ground, Scyther and Electabuzz clashed together. The Electric Pokémon had its hands on Scyther's upper arms and kept the Mantis Pokémon at a distance so it couldn't cut it. "Go, Electabuzz!" Kaz encouraged his Pokémon from the sidelines with a fist in the air. "Just burn that Scyther to a crisp!"

"Don't give in, Scyther! Slice that Electabuzz to ribbons!" The other Trainers also shouted at their Pokémon to get up, and now all of them were fighting among one another. It was an all-out street melee that was quickly starting to get messy. Now was the right chance.

"It's time! Do it!" Ash called behind him.

"Heave... ho!" the five others all chanted as they pushed the barrels forward onto their sides. They rolled down the slanted roof, and onto the newly-built platforms. Ash watched as his plan all came together: the barrels on both sides of the buildings went rolling down the ramp and slammed to a stop at the end, where they opened up. Red ketchup came spilling out of the barrels and slobbered all over the two humans standing on either end of the ramps: Yas and Kaz. They both looked down at each other and cried out at the condiment that covered their bodies, and hearing their Trainers' cries of discomfort, the pair of Pokémon separated and looked at them.

Instantly, the two Pokémon became enraged and blinded with anger upon seeing the color red, and as Electabuzz slammed its chest like a gorilla, Scyther slammed its blades together and a piercing sound bounced off the buildings. Neither Trainer had any idea what they were doing, and only looked at their Pokémon in confusion. "What are 'ya doin', Electabuzz? Hurry up and crush 'dat Scyther!"

"What's wrong with you, Scyther? Cut attack, now!" The Pokémon obeyed, but their targets were not their opponents, but their Trainers. With a mighty leap, both Pokémon charged at their Trainers, and both screamed at the same time. As Yas's uniform ripped as Scyther cut through the ketchup-stained overalls like butter, Kaz sputtered out words while Electabuzz hit him with a Thunderbolt attack.

"What-are-you-doing?! It's-me,-Electabuzz! Your-Trainer!"

"Wait! Stop!" Yas screamed, running as Scyther wildly slashed at him. "You're making a mistake! I'm your Trainer, Scyther!"

"You don't have the right to call yourselves Pokémon Trainers after what you've made them do!" Ash yelled from the rooftop.

"But please! You've got to save me!" Yas begged as he ran from his Pokémon. He wasn't paying attention to where he was going, and pushed aside Kaz's Electabuzz, and when it fell to the ground, its attack stopped, and Kaz hurried alongside his enemy, as they were now both targets from Scyther and Electabuzz.

"Think they've had enough?" Brock asked with a smirk, and Ash grinned back and held a Poké Ball high in the air.

"Alright! Bulbasaur, I choose you!" The ball opened in his hand and released his Bulbasaur, who let out a cry before extending its vines out from under its bulb. It grabbed a bucket of red paint with them, and let out another cry before tossing the contents of the bucket out onto Electabuzz and Scyther. The paint drenched the Pokémon, and they shook their head and stood up before staring at each other and gasping. They stared inches away from each other, frozen in rage as their minds processed the colors before them. Finally, both Pokémon lunged at each other and collided hard. Their rage had completely blinded them, however, and they collided with each other face first, and Ash smirked as the Pokémon fell to the ground and doubled over.

"Scyther!"

"Electabuzz!" Both unofficial Gym Leaders seemed to be horrified at the turn of events, and Ash sat on the roof beside his Bulbasaur and smiled at his handiwork.

"Well, I hope you two have learned your lesson!"

"Bulbasaur..."

The pair looked at each other and clasped hands, and then Yas spoke up. "Shall we join together, then?" But then their lips peeled back and they glared up at Ash and Brock.

"At least until we destroy those meddling kids!" Kaz added, and the smile on Ash's face vanished instantly.

"C'mon! Attack those kids on the roof, now!" they both called. They were finally working together, but now they had just found a common enemy. With battle cries, members of both the Yas and Kaz Gym all charged forward, and Ash frowned.

"They're gonna have to learn the hard way," he muttered, and pulled out another Poké Ball. "Wartortle!" A second flash of light burst from Ash's hand, and Wartortle appeared soaring through the air.

"Wartor!"

"Wartortle, Hydro Pump attack!" Wartortle let out another cry and pulled in a deep gulp of air. Finally, it sent out a powerful torrent of water down at the Gym lackeys that quickly swept them off their feet and onto their backs. With an easy turn of its head, Wartortle continued the powerful Water-type attack, but this time directing it at Yas and Kaz. The pair let out cries as they were thrown off their feet and against the building behind them. When Wartortle landed on the ground, they sank to the ground completely drenched, and water dripped off them and the ketchup did as well. "Now then," Ash stated, stepping in front of them after leaping off the roof onto a pile of hay. Despite just attacking them, he smiled warmly at them with his hands on his hips and Wartortle stood beside him looking just as friendly. "Why can't we all just get along like friends?"

"Like friends?!" the two gang leaders repeated at the same time, and as they stood, they picked up stray pieces of wood and held them firmly in their hand like weapons.

"Now we'll teach you!" Yas stated.

"And I suggest you run!" Kaz added with a dark look. Ash and Brock gasped and took a step back. This wasn't part of the plan. But suddenly, the person in the trenchcoat from the restaurant stepped out in between the two groups.

"Hold it right there!" they said, with a voice that was definitely female and sounding very familiar.

"What?"

"And who are you?" Kaz questioned, raising the stick higher. Instead of answering, the woman took out a Poké Ball and held it up for the two men to see like a police officer would hold up their badge. Unlike a normal Poké Ball, however, it was red on the top and pink on the bottom, and featured a blue 'P' on the top under a pair of growths that went down almost like wings above the capture button.

"I'm the inspector from the official Pokémon League!" she declared. Both Yas and Kaz cried out in horror, and the woman threw the Poké Ball forward. "Poké Ball, go!" The Poké Ball soared through the air and opened, releasing the plasma inside that eventually formed into a Chansey wearing a nurse's cap.

"Chansey! Chansey!" it announced before clapping its hands merrily, and the gang leaders' heads hung in disappointment.

"Chansey?" Brock questioned with a cocked eyebrow, and looked at the inspector. "That must mean..."

"That's right! My true identity is..." In one quick movement, the woman ripped off the trenchcoat and the hat, sunglasses, and mask off her face, and revealed the nurse's outfit she wore underneath. "Nurse Joy!" She smiled at the pair of traveling Trainers, and a blush danced across Brock's face before she turned back and glared at the pair with her hands on her hips. "I could never allow people to use Pokémon for nothing but street fighting to open an official Pokémon Gym!"

At this point, Yas and Kaz were on their knees, and hung their heads with shame, and only hung them further down as they begged. "Please, Nurse Joy!"

"Won't you give us anudder' chance?" Instantly, the hard mask on her face lightened up, and she smiled at them.

"Only if you're willing to start over from the beginning."

"Of course we are!" Yas replied instantly.

"Just tell us what we should do, Nurse Joy!"

"There's someone here who can do that better than I can," she said to them, and gestured over to Ash.

"Who?! Me?!" the boy questioned, but before he could deny it, the two leaders fell to his feet and bowed to him.

"Oh, please! Please teach us how to act!" Ash let out a sigh, knowing he wasn't going to get out of this, and sat down on a stack of logs nearby as he tried to find the right words. Wartortle sat beside him as well, and looked curiously up at its Trainer and then down at the two men kneeling.

"Well, you see... Pokémon are really our friends. So, we've got to be kind to them."

"But what about Pokémon battles?" Kaz questioned, finally raising his head.

"Of course, you fight them as hard as you can; with all your strength, trying to win..."

"With all your strength?" Yas asked. "Isn't that the same as fighting?"

"No, no! Not at all! Uh, sure, you try to win, but you don't try to beat each other!" It was obvious that Ash was failing at finding the right words, as he looked down at the two males and they just simply blinked at him.

"What is Ash trying to say, anyway?" Brock chuckled from the sidelines to Nurse Joy and the three kids with an amused look on his face. Realizing this wasn't getting through, he furrowed his brow together and looked at them.

"Now first, you'll have to fix everything you've broken in this town!" he demanded, and the two older men bowed to him once again.

"At once, Tom Ato!" The black-haired boy skipped a beat and blinked, and then let out a groan and quietly murmured to himself.

"Oh, I should have picked a better name..."

o 0 o

The two reformed gang leaders got to work right away, much to Ash's surprise. Not only did they get to work, but their lackeys had a change of heart as well after seeing the change in their leaders, and were helping also. And so were Scyther and Electabuzz. After having the paint washed off of them with Wartortle's water, all of the Pokémon were helping put the town back together. It was a great scene to see them all working together as a unit and for good.

"It looks like they've all had a change of heart and decided to become true Pokémon Trainers!" Brock observed with a smile.

"Thanks!" the three kids all said at the same time with big grins on their faces.

"You did it, Ash!" their leader added, but Ash waved away the compliment.

"Nah, I didn't do it all by myself! We all did it together!"

"We were wrong about Pokémon Trainer being bad guys." The blue-haired boy looked at his friends, and they all exchanged happy looks. "Now, we all want to become Pokémon Trainers!"

"Right!" the other two agreed with nods.

"We think Pokémon are the coolest!"

"Just like you!" His head was already starting to get bigger as he rubbed the back of his head and let out a chuckle.

"Aw, I'm not; it was nothing!" he said, but when he looked down, the boys weren't looking at him, but were kneeling down beside his Wartortle and holding out pads of paper.

"Can we have your autograph, Wartortle?" they asked simultaneously, and Ash instantly felt his head deflate and he fell to the ground in embarrassment. While Wartortle cocked its head at the pads of paper being held out to it, Ash let out a groan.

"War? Wartor..?"

"Oh well... Wartortle really is the star..."

And with each boy getting a pad print from Wartortle, the pair headed off on the road again, waving goodbye to the three boys, who clutched their autographs tight to their chest with their free hand while waving with the other.

"Good bye now!"

"We'll miss you!"

"Thanks for helping us!" Ash, Brock, and Wartortle all waved from the top of a hill overlooking Dark City, and after a moment, Ash let out a satisfied breath of air and curled his finger around his chin.

"Those kids really appreciate me..." he said proudly, and the kids gave out one last cry that made Ash fall to the ground.

"We'll miss you... Wartortle!"

-end-

Ash:

Party:

Wartortle (Poké Ball)

Moves: Skull Bash, Dig, Hydro Pump, BubbleBeam

Pidgeotto (Poké Ball)

Moves: Gust, Quick Attack, Whirlwind, Wing Attack

Bulbasaur (Poké Ball)

Moves: Tackle, Vine Whip, Razor Leaf, Leech Seed

Charmander (Poké Ball)

Moves: Flamethrower, Fire Spin, Skull Bash, Ember

Tauros (Safari Ball)

Moves:

Mankey (Poké Ball)

Moves: Thrash, Mega Kick, Scratch, Seismic Toss

At Professor Oak's Lab:

Muk (Poké Ball)

Moves:

Tauros (Safari Ball)

Moves:

Krabby (Poké Ball)

Moves: ViceGrip

Badges:

Boulder Badge

Cascade Badge

Thunder Badge

Marsh Badge

Rainbow Badge

Soul Badge

Brock:

Party:

Onix (Poké Ball)

Moves: Tackle, Bind, Dig

Geodude (Poké Ball)

Moves: Seismic Toss, Tackle

Zubat (Poké Ball)

Moves: Whirlwind, Supersonic

Psyduck (Poké Ball)

Moves: Tail Whip, Water Gun, Disable, Confusion

Vulpix (Poké Ball)

Moves: Fire Spin, Flamethrower, Agility