"It can't be true! Why does it have to be so big?!" exclaimed Ash when he saw Motostoke for the first time. He had begun to dislike big cities a little, as the bigger city knew more fans that should be dodged.
"Come on, Ash, it's not that big," Serena tried to comfort, but Ash wasn't convinced. "From the bet that I will be besieged as soon as I step in there," he said dryly and Pikachu on his shoulder said, "Pikaa.."
A few days after the gorge adventure, the trio finally made it to Motostoke. They stood a little distance from the city limits and watched it from afar.
It was a cloudy day, but it did not rain. The weather had remained almost the same for the last two days and did not seem to be improving.
"If you want to beat the Motostoke Gym Leader, you have to step in there, whether there are over-eager fans or not," Gou said and waved his hand, pointing to others to follow. "Come on, let's go"
They set off and soon arrived at Motostoke themselves.
It was a quite interesting looking city. It was a mixture of the modern urban landscape and steampunk. They looked around in wonder and walked along the sidewalk.
They were met by a wide variety of people and Pokemon, going for whoever. Ash was a little wary of the fans at first, but relaxed when he noticed there weren't the same over-eager fans here as in previous places. Some people looked at him curiously, but no one came to ask for an autograph or a picture.
"So where is that Gym located?" asked Ash from Gou, who led the crowd. Serena also looked at him curiously and Gou took out his Rotom Phone.
"I'm not sure, wait a minute," Gou replied, clicking something for his Rotom. He read it for a moment and snorted, clearly frustrated.
"It's just saying here that the Motostoke's Gym is the largest building in town! No route there has been given!" he said irritably and Ash and Serena glanced at each other.
"Well, I guess we just have to find the route there myself," Ash said, shrugging his shoulders, but Serena had a better idea.
"I saw this near the Pokemon Center. Let's go ask Nurse Joy for a route," she suggested and Ash nodded.
"Good idea, and at the same time we can heal our Pokemon," he stated again in his normal, enthusiastic way, and under Serena's guidance, they headed for Pokemon Center.
****
They arrived at the Pokemon Center and Ash opened its door. They stepped inside the Center and looked around.
The Pokemon Center looked roughly the same as the other Centers. There were sofas, tables, and a direct path to the counter behind which Nurse Joy worked. Now she was just talking to some trainer who seemed to have an important thing for Nurse Joy.
The trio decided to sit on nearby couches and wait for the trainer to get his case done. Serena let Braixen and Sylveon out of their Pokeballs and at the same time her Yamper also came out of his own and barked.
Serena giggled at it and took it in her arms. Yamper licked the girl's cheek and Serena took a brush from her bag. "Who wants brushing?" she asked and the Pokemons exclaimed happily.
Serena giggled and was the first to start brushing Braixen's fur. Ash smiled at her and also took out his Pokeballs.
"Okay, Lucario and Greninja, come out!" he exclaimed and his two Pokemon appeared from their balls. They immediately noticed Braixen and glanced at each other, they sat close to this, only nudge each other in a bit.
Gou also let his Pokemon out and Ash collapsed on the couch. He watched Serena and how she brushed Braixen's tail. And thinking of Braixen made him remember that the next Gym specialized in the Fire-type.
"What will the next Gym look like?" he thought aloud and Gou shrugged.
"I dunno, I have only heard that Kabu is tough resistance, many trainers have given up even the middle of everything for him," he explained, and Ash looked excited rather than worried.
"Tough Gyms are the best, they have enough challenge!" he said resolutely and raised his fists resolutely. "And I happen to like challenges!"
"I'm wondering if Kabu can Dynamax or Gigantamax his Pokemons," Serena said without looking up at Braixen's fur. "It would be interesting to see more of them"
"That would be," Ash said, leaning on the back of the couch. "What Pokemon do Kabu even have? They're definitely powerful..."
The trainer who talked to Nurse Joy happened to hear their conversation. He turned to look in their direction and at the same time gave Nurse Joy his Pokeballs.
"Could you take care of these, I have a little to do," he muttered and Nurse Joy said happily, "Sure." She put the ball in the holder and Wigglytuff took them with the carts to the back room.
The trainer, on the other hand, had turned to the trio talking on the couches and set out to come towards them.
"Excuse me, but I happened to hear your conversation," he began and the trio turned to look at him.
The person who came to them was the same trainer who had just talked to Nurse Joy.
He was about 20 years old, he was tall and had short, black hair. He was holding black sunglasses in his right hand and beside him stood Infernape.
He was wearing blue jeans, black-white sneakers and a black and white T-shirt with white buttons in the middle and a red collar.
He spin in his hand sunglasses and said: "My name is by the way Lucas, and this is my partner Infernape. I heard about your recent conversation and became interested, as I am just coming from Motostoke Gym"
"Wow, really!? I am by the way Ash, and these are my partners Pikachu, Lucario and Greninja and I'm going to challenge the Motostoke Gym, too!" exclaimed Ash excitedly while introducing himself and Serena giggled.
"And I'm Serena," she introduced herself and then pointed her Pokemons. "And here are Braixen, Sylveon, and...," she interrupted her sentence and took Yamper in her arms. "..and Yamper. Nice to meet you"
"And I'm Gou, and here are Scorbunny, Eevee and Skwovet," Gou introduced himself and the Pokémon.
Lucas smiled at them and said, "Nice to meet you, Ash, Serena and Gou, if it doesn't bother you, I want to join you, I think Ash is pretty eager to hear about Gym."
It didn't bother them and Lucas sat down next to Ash on the couch. He began to tell them about his recent Gym Battle and at the same time a little more stories about himself.
As they chatted, Infernape turned his attention to Braixen. It hadn't seen that pretty female Pokemon before and decided to try chatting with her a bit.
It ruffled its chest and took on the face the most handsome look he knew. It stepped in front of Baixen and was just opening its mouth when it happened to glance behind Braixen.
Braixen sat on the edge of the couch, looking curiously at Infernape. However, Braixen had no idea what Infernape saw behind her back.
Infernape, on the other hand, saw very well and the sight caused almost all its blood to clot in its veins. Behind Braixen's back, Lucario and Greninja stood threatening like two bodyguards and growled quietly to Infernape.
Lucario had a stick made of Aura in his one paw and it hit it threateningly in his second paw. Greninja, on the other hand, felt the sharpness of his Shurikens at the fingertips and they both looked menacingly at Infernape.
"If I were you I wouldn't try, boy," Lucario growled quietly and Infernape swallowed. It did understand when it was worth giving up and now was a pretty good time.
It laughed nervously and retreated slowly to its trainer. Braixen was left confused to see why the nice-looking Infernape left suddenly and Lucario and Greninja hit high five.
"Trainer Lucas, your Pokemon are ready," was the voice of Nurse Joy and Lucas got up from the couch.
"Great, now I can continue my journey," he said and went to get his Pokemon from Nurse Joy.
After he had done that, he returned to the trio. "Well, our paths will probably be separate here," he said apologetically and was just leaving when Serena got the idea.
"Hey Lucas!" she exclaimed and Lucas, who had almost reached the door, turned and asked, "What now?"
"It just occurred to me why you couldn't show us the way to the Gym? So we wouldn't have to find a route there ourselves and we could still continue the conversation," Serena explained and Lucas seemed to like the idea.
"A good idea, why I didn't figure out that," he laughed and Serena smiled. "So, what we still waiting for, come on, let's go!"
****
They walked along the streets of Motostoke and Lucas guided them forward. At the same time, he told a little about everything in his life and they learned, for example, that he and his family had moved from Sinnoh a few years ago, that Infernape was his Starter Pokemon, and that he had a little sister who wanted to become as strong as her big brother.
"She has a habit of watching every televised match she finds and she's constantly looking for new tricks on Pokevision. Plus, she has a special way of combining Performing and battling," Lucas said as they passed a sausage stall and smiled as he remembered some matches with his little sister.
From Serena, it began to sound strangely familiar. "Wait, did you say he combined battling and performing in her matches?" she asked, while trying to get the Yamper moving forward. Namely, it had hit its eyes on the sausages in the sausage stall and refused to move anywhere. The stall seller watched it suspiciously.
"Yeah, I said," Lucas said a little amazed at the question and scratched his head. "Why?"
"Well, your sister's name is probably Nelly, she's probably in love with the pink and she's probably owning Clefairy, isn't she?" said Serena while buying Yamper one bun roll from the stall. She gave it to Yamper, who swallowed it in an instant and Serena stared at it in disbelief. Yamper barked and clearly wanted more.
Lucas was shocked. "How did you know all that?" he asked in astonishment and Serena, who had just bought another sausage bun from a satisfied-looking salesman, said, "We happened to meet her and her friend while in Hulbury. She challenged Ash to a battle and almost won him there. Oh yeah, and she's a big fan of Ash."
"Fan?" said Lucas in amazement and turned questioningly to Ash. This laughed nervously and Gou said with a grin, "Ash is an Alolan Champion. That's why"
Lucas was now even more shocked. "Alolan... Champion!" he said in disbelief and a few people looked at him curiously, including the stall salesman from whom Serena had just bought a third bun for Yamper. "Why didn't you say anything? Incredible, genuine Champion in front of me, Wow!"
"Shh.. quieter, people hear," Ash whispered and continued, "Besides, it's not such a big deal, I defeated my opponent with luck."
"Ash is unnecessarily modest, he didn't seem to say he came second in the Kalos League, has been in the top 16 or top 8 in all other Leagues, has saved the world at least 10 times, met and befriended many legendary Pokemon and done many dangerous stunts, like jumped from the top of Lumiose City's Prism Tower. Are you happy now?"
The last sentence was addressed to Yamper, who had swallowed five buns of sausage and now looked very well eaten. It barked a little awkwardly and Serena looked at it a little irritated. Lucas, on the other hand, was shocked and Ash wished not too many people would have heard Serena's speak.
"Can we go already? I want to get to that Gym before some gossip magazine gets hands on me," Ash complained and Lucas recovered from his shock.
"Oh yes, this way," he said, pointing them to follow. Serena lifted the overeaten Yamper into her arms and then they continued their journey again.
****
"That's it, Motostoke's own Gym!" Lucas introduced and made frames with his hands in front of it.
They stood in front of a very large building and looked at it in amazement. "Do you feel that these Gyms are only getting bigger?" asked Serena and Ash and Gou nodded.
The Gym resembled a large, slightly outdated factory and was indeed Motostoke's largest building. It had long, different-colored pennants placed on its sidewalls and a large front door on its front wall. A little smoke rose from its many chimneys and they watched it with its heads tilted.
"Come on, let's go inside," Lucas said, referring them to follow. They nodded and together they stepped inside the Gym.
****
They stepped inside and looked around. While they admired the high ceiling of the Gym, one of the employees of the Gym came to them and he said, "Hey, are you perhaps looking for the Gym Leader Kabu?"
"Yes, I came here to challenge him to the Gym battle!" said Ash resolutely and raised his fist. Pikachu on his shoulder also said resolutely "Pika!" and Yamper in Serena's lap barked.
"All right, follow me," the employee said, but no one had time to go anywhere, when in the close heard: "No need, I'm here," and they turned to see who had spoken.
The voice belonged to a man whose age was hard to say. However, he did not look very young. He had gray-white, short hair and a slightly bored look on his face.
He wore white shorts with a variety of different patterns and a red stripe on the other leg, a red T-shirt with some sort of image on the front and under the T-shirt was a black long-sleeved shirt with red, flame-like patterns. He was wearing red socks and red and white shoes.
He held his hands in a gust and looked at them a short distance from the other eyebrow raised. "Are you Gym Leader Kabu?" Ash asked and the man smirked in agreement.
"I am," he said without taking his hands off the gust and looking at the crowd. "And I guess one of you teens wants to challenge me to a battle."
"True, I want," Ash said, stepping a little further. "I'm Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town from Kanto and this is my partner Pikachu. I'm here to challenge your Gym battle!"
"Pika pika chu!" Pikachu also said and they both raised their fists resolutely to air.
Kabu looked at this without turning his expression and looked at the rest of the crowd. "I know you," he said, pointing his word to Lucas. "You're the guy who beat me with your Infernape. It was just luck, if I say."
"Hey!" Lucas exclaimed in irritation, but Kabu didn't care about him, but said, "Shall we go? We have a match to go to."
And without waiting for an answer, he set out to walk forward, the crowd quickly leaving to follow him and the employee who had welcome them, remaining confused to look after them.
****
They arrived at the square where the battlefield was located. Ash and Kabu went against each other at both ends of the field and one employee took the place of the referee. Serena, Gou, and Lucas went into the stands and sat down there.
"This is a 3 vs 3 battle between Gym Leader Kabu and challenger Ash!" the referee announced. "The winner is the one whose Pokemon are last upright! Begin!"
Kabu picked up one of his Pokeballs and magnified it. Then he threw it in the air and exclaimed, "Ninetales, I choose you!"
A pale yellow, fox-like Pokemon appeared in front of him and exclaimed, "Tales!" In the auditorium, Serena took out her Rotom and scanned Ninetales with it:
"Ninetales, Fox Pokemon and Evolved form of Vulpix. Fire-type. Very smart and very vengeful. Grabbing one of its many tails could result in a 1000-year Curse"
"Ninetales, right?" said Ash and straightened his cap. "All right then. Pikachu, we have a match ahead!"
Pikachu jumped off Ash's shoulder and settled in front of him on the field. Its cheeks sparkled and it said resolutely, "Pika Pikachu!"
Kabu looked at it without blinking his eyes and said, "Oh, Pikachu. You still don't beat us. Ninetales, use Ember!"
Ninetales cried loud and plunged a fiery blow towards Pikachu.
"Pikachu, quickly, dodge it and make Electro Ball!" Ash exclaimed and Pikachu jumped out of Ember's path and sent a yellow electric ball towards Ninetales.
"Quick Attack," said Kabu and Ninetales quickly plunged into the journey, shining brightly.
It reached the back of Pikachu, stopped so that a little dust came out of the ground and Pikachu was amazed to look ahead. Then Kabu said to it, "Now, jump in the air and do Will-O-Wisp."
Ninetales jumped into the air and made a purple fireball towards Pikachu. Pikachu turned at lightning speed, but did not have time to dodge Ninetales' attack and it hit Pikachu, flying him back to the ground.
"Pika!" Pikachu exclaimed as it hit the ground, but quickly got up and its cheeks sparkled. "Pikachu, use Thunderbolt!" exclaimed Ash and Pikachu nodded and sent his familiar electric shock on the trip.
"Ninetales, jump forward and do a Quick Attack again," said Kabu and Ninetales jumped in the air and seemed to leash a little in the air. It landed behind Pikachu again and Kabu said again, "Now, use Fire Spin"
Ninetales opened her mouth and sent an orange-red whirlwind towards Pikachu.
"Pikachu, dodge it!" exclaimed Ash, but Pikachu didn't have time to do it and a whirlwind swallowed it up.
"I told you that you can't beat me," Kabu said smugly, while the whirlwind subsided and left Pikachu lying on the ground.
"Don't say yet!" exclaimed Ash and then asked Pikachu, "Pikachu, can you continue?"
"Pika!" said Pikachu resolutely and managed to get up. His cheeks sparkled brighter and Ash grinned.
"Okay, then do a Quick Attack and right after that Iron Tail!" he exclaimed and Pikachu rushed into the journey, shining bright and at the other end of the field, Kabu's grin disappeared.
"Ninetales, dodge it," he said and Ninetales jumped out of Pikachu's path. Then Kabu grinned. "And now, Ninetales, do a Quick Attack and at the same time set the field around Pikachu on fire."
Ninetales set off quickly to run a circle around the confused Pikachu and at the same time ignite a fiery circle around it. When it had done so, it stopped inside the circle opposite Pikachu and waited for its trainer's next order.
Ash hadn't expected it and Kabu's move made him confused. "Pikachu, are you okay?!" he exclaimed to his partner and this one shouted from inside the circle of fire in response, "Pika Pikachu!"
"Maybe he's still fine, but not for long," Kabu said with a grin. "Ninetales, make so many blows that Pikachu will faint"
Ninetales began to carry out her trainer's command with pleasure and Pikachu could do nothing but try to dodge them. The blazing fire around made it difficult and little by little Ninetales got to hit Pikachu more and more.
On the other side of the field, Ash clenched his fist as he didn't really figure out how Pikachu would have gotten out of the circle. The flames around were too high and none of Pikachu's moves would work on them.
In the stands, Serena was greatly amazed to hear Kabu's recent move. "Is it even according to the rules?" she asked and Gou shrugged.
"I don't think it's going to be denied anywhere," he said, and Lucas continued, "We should have prepared for something like this. Kabu is known for using quite special tactics"
Serena sighed and squeezed the Yamper in her lap tighter. It licked the girl's cheek and Serena looked at Ash a little worried. Hopefully Ash still manages to win this, she thought and watched as Ash stared with concern at the circle inside which Pikachu was.
****
However, that batch of the match ended when Pikachu fell to the ground and familiar spirals appeared in his eyes. The flames around Ninetales and Pikachu subsided enough that the referee saw the outcome and was able to announce the solution.
"Pikachu is unable to battle, so the winner of this set is Ninetales!" the referee declared and the rest of the flames went out around them.
Ash hurried to his fainted companion and lifted it into his arms. "Thank you, buddy, you did your best," he said, taking Pikachu gently to the edge of the field. Then he turned back to Kabu and said, "I haven't given up yet."
"Good, because we're not either," Kabu said, looking at the circle-shaped, burnt ring in the middle of the field. Part of it still smoked and Kabu whistled.
One door at the edge of the field became five Squirtles making a similar sound as a fire truck. One of them had a bucket on his head.
When they reached the field, they stopped, quickly extinguished the small fires smoking in the circle, and then continued their journey away from the second side door, again making the fire truck sound. Kabu looked at them with satisfaction and then said, "Good, now we can continue."
He allowed Ninetales to continue the battle. Ash instead picked up one of his Pokeballs, magnified it, and then threw it into the air. "Lucario, I choose you!" he exclaimed and Aura Pokemon appeared in front of him.
"At your service, Master," it said through Aura and Kabu smiled. "Both battlers ready?" the referee asked and they both nodded.
"Good. Then, begin!"
The match could continue.