"This is a four vs four rematch between Gym Leader Allister and challenger Ash! You know the rest of the rules, so get started!" exclaimed Marnie as the referee again and Ash grinned and threw one of his Pokeballs into the air, exclaiming, "Corviknight, it's your turn again!"
After returning from that strange cave, Ash had immediately headed back to the Gym and challenged Allister to a rematch. This time he was determined to win and now that all the uncertainty and anxiety had dissolved away, he felt everything was possible. And thanks for it belonged to a girl with a honey-blonde-hair.
When Ash and Serena had (finally) confess their feelings for each other, Ash had felt full of new strength. A mere glance at Serena was enough to boost his self-confidence to the usual high again and now the normal Ash Ketchum had returned and come to win.
Corviknight appeared in front of Ash, growling in his low voice and Ash grinned. Corviknight had managed to beat Allister's first Pokemon last time, so its victory should all make sense now as well. If Allister just chose Yamask.
To Ash's relief, Allister did so. He also threw one of his Pokeballs into the air and said quietly, "Yamask, time to battle." Soon a Pokemon carrying a strange picture had appeared in front of him, and Ash looked pleased.
"Time to start the battle," he muttered and then he exclaimed, "Corviknight, use Pluck!"
Corviknight growled and shot towards Yamask with a beak glistening brightly. However, Allister not only stood and waited for the outcome, but exclaimed, "Yamask, dodge it and use the Shadow Ball!"
Yamask dodged Corviknight's move by hovering upwards, and Corviknight, confused, tried to slow down when he noticed that Yamask had disappeared from in front of it. It succeeds, but then Allister said, "Now, Yamask," and Yamask sent a Shadow Ball toward Corviknight.
It hit its head and Corviknight staggered to the side. "Corviknight!" exclaimed Ash seeing it and Allister repeated, "Again, Yamask"
Yamask made the Shadow Ball again, but this time Ash didn't let it hit but exclaimed, "Corviknight, use the Steel Wing and hit the ball with your wings towards Yamask!"
"What.." said Allister, amazed to hear Ash's command, but Corviknight had already obeyed. It turned towards Yamask, its wings began to shine bright, and it waited for the Shadow Ball to be at a suitable distance.
It didn't have to wait long and when Yamask's Shadow Ball was close enough, Corviknight whipped it with its one wing so that the ball changed direction and flew towards Yamask.
"Dodge it!" Allister exclaimed, which was surprising, for they had not yet heard him shout once. But Yamask did not have time to dodge, but its own move hit it and caused it to fall to the ground.
"Yeah!" exclaimed Ash, raising his fist in the air and a rare grin was also visible at Corviknight's mouth. In the auditorium, Gou said, "Genious. It was a good move from Ash."
"That's right," Serena said, touching the rose quartz necklace Ash had just given. As she remembered the events that led to it, a smile rose to her mouth and she touched her lips with her fingers. It was still a little hard for her to believe that she and Ash had really kissed and thinking about it made her blush a little.
Gou noticed her blush immediately and a cunning grin rose to his mouth. He leaned a little closer to Serena and then whispered in her ear, "I guess you're thinking of something completely different than this match. And it's not hard to guess what. So.. tell me, is he a good kisser?.."
Serena turned to look at Gou and her cheeks were now deep red. Gou grinned at her mischievously and continued, "At least you seemed to like it very much. You were pretty cute, by the way..."
"Did you spy on us?!" exclaimed Serena in disbelief and Gou shrugged vaguely. "Maybe, maybe not," he grinned and Serena glared at him.
"You little...," she began angrily, but her sentence was interrupted, because then behind her was a curious, "Ooo! Gossip! Tell me too! Who was spying on whom and why!? And when?"
Serena turned and saw Melissa's curious face in front of her. She and Sonia had also come to see Ash's match and meantime Officer Jenny took care of the statues and the cave.
"I just asked Serena is Ash a good kisser," Gou explained the situation to Melissa, and Serena saw a similar cunning (and bad for Serena) glow lit in her eyes, and she said slyly, "It's easy to figure it out. I just need to look a little inside your head and voìla!"
"You said you wouldn't read people's thoughts when you're at work," Serena said grumpily with her hands in a gust, but Melissa waved her finger in front of her and said smugly, "Yeah, but right now I'm not exactly at work. So, I am..."
"Childish, Melissa, childish," Sonia interrupted a short distance away. She sat a little further away from the others and there was quite a bit of chaos around her.
She held a notebook in her lap on which she had copied every rune in the frame of the doorway in the cave, and now tried to translate them into modern language. To that, on her right was an open book containing the runes and grammar of ancient Galar, and on her left was a laptop. She squinted and try to see something in the dim light of the Gym and in her face had a very focused look.
"How?" Melissa asked, turning her gaze to Sonia, and Sonia said, without looking up from the runes, "Because you put your nose at things that don't belong to you."
Melissa looked confused for a moment, but then a mischievous grin rose on her face again. "You're just jealous of Serena because she knew how to confess her feelings to her love, but you didn't," she said and Sonia finally looked up at her.
"What are you talking about?" she asked, and Melissa grinned. "I'm digging around a little... Tell me, who is this Leon, with whom you seem to spend so much time?"
"No one," Sonia replied, turning her gaze back to her runes, but the pink that appeared on her cheeks was just a reason for Melissa to continue.
"Riight. This 'no one' just happens to be a Champion, often with you and you seem to blush when I said his name. So.."
"I said he's no one!" Sonia said sharply, but Melissa didn't give up. She slid on the bench a little closer to Sonia and a mischievous grin was glued to her face.
"Yeah. And tell me why you...," she continued, and Gou whispered to Serena, "Let those two continue. They'll stop when they've had enough."
"Yeah," Serena said, touching again her necklace. For some reason, Gou's question spun in her mind and she smiled a little. Ash had been a good kisser...
"Hah, I knew it!"
Damn it.
On the field, the battle between Ash and Allister continued in a tight atmosphere. Yamask and Corviknight had both been hit and struck by their opponents, but neither had fainted yet. Now they looked at each other on the field and waited for the next command from their trainers.
"Corviknight, use Peck!" exclaimed Ash finally and Corviknight growled low again and plunged his beak shining towards Yamask. However, Allister responded to the attack by saying in a quiet but still audible voice, "Yamask, use Disable!"
Yamask obeyed and its eyes began to glow red. It stared at the approaching Corviknight and its body formed red rings towards the Corviknight.
The rings reached Corviknight and made it stop immediately. A red glowing light formed around its body and Ash exclaimed, "No!"
If Allister hadn't had a mask on his face, they would have seen him grin. "Yamask, use Brutal Swing," he said and Yamask set off towards Corviknight spinning like a top.
Ash didn't have time to say anything after Yamask had already hit Corviknight. Corviknight growled and then it fell to the ground.
Yamask looked pleased with himself and hovered over to his trainer. Ash, on the other hand, looked at Corviknight lying on the ground and the familiar despair began to seep into his mind again. But then he happened to glance at the audience, saw Serena smile encouragingly at him, and despair immediately subsided. He wouldn't give up now!
"Corviknight, can you continue?!" he exclaimed and Corviknight growled and rose up to his wonder. A determined grin appeared on Ash's face again and he said, "Great! Now, use Steel Wing!
Corviknight growled again and then it rose into the air again. Its wings began to glow bright and then it plunged towards Yamask, who did not have time to dodge, and Corviknight hit it with his wings.
"Yama!" Yamask exclaimed and flew back. Allister couldn't wait to see what Ash would come up with next, but exclaimed, "Yamask, use Disable again!"
Yamask obeyed and its eyes began to shine red again and sent red rings towards Corviknight. However, Ash didn't let it happen but exclaimed, "Corviknight, up!"
Corviknight set out to fly towards the roof of the Gym and Allister said to Yamask, "Follow it," Yamask obeyed and set out to follow Ash's Pokemon, and Ash knew he couldn't dodge it forever. What would he do now?
Suddenly a good idea came to his mind. He saw that Yamask was directly under Corviknight and, grinning, he said, "Corviknight, use Pluck!"
The beak of Corviknight began to shine again, and it shot towards Yamask. But now the rest of its body was starting to shine as well and Ash saw that the shine around it was starting to take on a bird-like form and he realized that the move wasn't Pluck but Brave Bird.
"Wow, Corviknight learned a new move!" exclaimed Gou from the stands and watched in admiration as Corviknight struck Yamask and made it drop to the ground. And when the dust that had settled from the stumbling finally dissipated, they saw that Yamask lay fainted on the ground and in the place of its eyes were familiar spirals.
"Yamask is unable to battle, so..," Marnie began, but her sentence was interrupted, for then Corviknight also dripped to the ground and spirals appeared in its eyes as well. "Um... I mean both Pokemon are unable to battle, so this round will result in a draw!"
Ash looked at the fainted Corviknight for a moment until he smiled and returned it back to its ball. "You were awesome, thanks Corviknight," he said to the ball and watched as Allister did the same to Yamask.
"So, the situation is still 0-0, so let's start a new round. Battlers, please choose your next Pokemon!" announced the referee Marnie and Ash and Allister looked at each other and their faces (though not noticed from Allister) had the same determined look.
It was time to start a new round.
"You selected your Pokemon first in the last round, so now it's my turn," Allister said, taking out one of his Pokeballs and enlarging it to big. Ash had noticed that as Allister fought, his stutter disappeared and he became much more determined.
"All right, so which Pokemon do you choose?" he asked and Allister responded by throwing the ball in the air and saying, "Dusknoir, your time has come!"
A ghostly Pokemon appeared in front of him and Ash looked at it thoughtfully, but said nothing. Instead, he looked at Pikachu, who had been sitting next to him all the time, and grinned.
"What do you say, buddy?" he asked and Pikachu nodded resolutely and said, raising his little fist into the air at the same time, "Pika!"
Ash smiled and then he exclaimed, straightening his right hand in front of him, "Okay Pikachu, let's battle!" Pikachu jumped in front of him with a determined look, exclaimed, "Pika pikachu!" and his cheeks sparkled. He was ready for the battle.
In the auditorium, Serena smiled as she watched Ash and Pikachu ready for the battle again and she said, "That's the Ash I know, not the guy who thought that he is a loser." She touched her blue ribbon which contains many memories and smiled.
"Hey Gou, what do you think? Who will win this round? I guess Ash, he seems really determined" said Serena, but when Gou answered nothing, Serena turned and saw Gou staring at something like a photo-like note and his face had a slightly wistful look.
"Hey Gou, what are you looking at?" Serena asked with interest and leaned a little closer. Hearing Serena's voice, Gou was startled sharply and hid the picture behind his back and seemed to blush a little.
"Nothing! Absolutely nothing!" he laughed nervously, but Serena didn't believe it for a moment. "No, you looked something. You looked at a photo. Can I see it?" she asked curiously and Gou blushed a little more. Serena wondered why and her curiosity only grew.
"I... I.. all right," Gou said with a sigh and pulled the picture out from behind him. He gave it to Serena to look at, but avoided looking Serena in the eye himself.
"There. You're welcome," he said as he handed the picture and Serena took it in her hand and looked at it.
The picture depicted three people and a few Pokemon. They smiled and laughed at the camera and Serena recognized Ash, Pikachu and Gou immediately. But the third person, a girl with a long, maroon braid, a Yamper in her arms and a slightly smaller smile on her face, she didn't know.
"Gou, who is she?" Serena asked, pointing to the girl in the picture, and Gou was silent for a moment and then replied, avoiding looking Serena in the eye, "She's Chloe. She's Professor Cerise's daughter. Remember, the professor I and Ash were assisting before we came here."
Having said that, he closed his mouth and turned to look toward the match field, where Ash had just instructed Pikachu to make a Thunderbolt. Serena, on the other hand, looked at the picture again, then again at Gou, who looked confused and somehow lost, and then she smiled.
"You like her, don't you?" she said and it was more of a statement than a question. Gou seemed to blush a little more and said, without looking at Serena, "So what if I like?" There was a bit of a defensive tone in his voice and Serena guessed Gou wasn't used to feeling like this.
"Gou, there's nothing wrong with feeling that way," she said softly and took her friend by the hand. This finally turned his gaze to Serena and Serena smiled at him. "And I know whereof I speak. Damn, after all, I had a crush on Ash since when I was eight!" She laughed a little and Gou seemed to smile a little too.
Then Serena got a little serious and asked, "So, tell me what she's like? In the picture, she seems to be pretty serious, but is she really like that? Or is she like Ash and running into new dangers all the time?"
Gou laughed and then thought for a moment. Then he slowly replied, "She's pretty cautious and sometimes she's pretty negative. Yamper is her only Pokemon, but she doesn't really like Pokemon, I don't know why. She goes to school and has a little brother named Parker. Yeah, and she was often complaining that Ash and I, and especially Ash, were too loud, rushing into new places without thinking first and especially about that we never seemed to get up early enough. But most of the time she was just nice and helped us sometimes in our research stuff. "
Having said that, he fell silent again and seemed to think something very focused. It was somehow weird to see Gou like this, usually he always had some sassy answer ready for questions or situations, but now he was more like Serena herself as she tried to figure out how to confess her feelings to Ash. Love makes people weird, she thought, shaking her head and then left Gou to gather his thoughts in peace.
"Dusknoir is unable to battle, so the winner of this round is Pikachu!" declared Marnie and Ash and Pikachu hit high fives. "Yeah! You were awesome, Pikachu!" Ash exclaimed and the yellow electric mouse looked pleased with himself.
Meanwhile, Allister returned the faint Dusknoir back to its ball and thanked it for the match. Pikachu had won it with a few well-aimed Electro Ball and Thunderbolt and now Allister had two Pokemon left. He grinned a little behind his mask. He really wanted to see how Ash's Pikachu would battle with his next Pokemon.
He picked up the next Pokeball and Pikachu at the other end of the field set ready again. "Ready, buddy?" Ash asked it and Pikachu nodded resolutely and said, "Pika!" It was ready to battle again!
At the other end of the field, Allister spun his Pokeball in his hand and then finally threw it into the air, saying, "Mimikyu, time to battle!"
A rag doll Pokemon appeared in front of him and Ash grinned a little. Last time, Pikachu had beaten this Pokemon, so he guesses it would work now too. So, it was time to start the match again!
"Pikachu, use Quick Attack!" Ash exclaimed and Pikachu quickly set off a move. It crashed towards Mimikyu but Allister didn't seem to be doing anything to stop it. Instead, he just said quietly, "Wait.." and Mimikyu remained motionless.
"What is he doing?" said Serena, wondering as she watched Allister's inaction, and Gou said thoughtfully, "He must have some tactics. Let's see what happens." Serena nodded and they focused on the match again.
Pikachu got close to Mimikyu and then Ash exclaimed, "Now, Pikachu, Iron Tail!" Pikachu jumped in the air and its tail began to shine bright and it aimed at Mimikyu.
"Now, Mimikyu!" Allister suddenly exclaimed, and suddenly a shady hand appeared under Mimikyu's robe, which grabbed Pikachu's tail and then threw this toward the walls of the Gym.
"Pika!" exclaimed Pikachu as he flew through the air towards the wall and in the auditorium, Serena and Gou gasped. "Pikachu!" exclaimed Ash, but suddenly he came up with a solution to the problem.
"Pikachu, use Electroweb and aim it at the wall!" he exclaimed and Pikachu formed a small electric ball with his tail and aimed it towards the wall, forming it into a yellow electric net.
Pikachu's air flight stopped at the net and Ash grinned with satisfaction. Allister, on the other hand, didn't seem pleased and then Ash exclaimed again, "Pikachu, use Agility!"
Pikachu shooted again towards Mimikyu. Now Allister didn't just wait, but said, "Mimikyu, Shadow Ball!"
With his shadowy hand, Mimikyu formed a dark ball and threw it towards the coming Pikachu. "Again, Mimikyu," Allister said quietly and Mimikyu began bombarding Pikachu with dark balls.
"Dodge them!" Ash exclaimed to Pikachu and with the help of Agility, Pikachu dodged Mimikyu's Shadow Balls by disappearing and appearing from side to side. Mimikyu's Shadow Balls, on the other hand, hit the ground and caused many small explosions, which Pikachu also had to dodge.
Eventually, Pikachu got close enough to Mimikyu and Ash exclaimed, "Iron Tail, Pikachu!" (Serena blushed in the auditorium, as the phrase reminded her of certain memories) and Pikachu jumped into the air, his tail shining bright again. It aimed it at Mimikyu and hit Mimikyu's "head"
But since it was not Mimikyu's right head, but only part of its rag, the movement did not affect Mimikyu himself in any way. It just made its "head" lean to the side and anger Mimikyu further.
It grabbed Pikachu by the tail again with his shadowy hand and threw it pretty hard straight to the ground. Pikachu bounced off the ground and finally circled to Ash, from where it rose back up and looked at Mimikyu with his cheeks sparkling.
"Pika.." it said and Ash instructed, "Pikachu, Quick Attack and then Electro Ball!"
Pikachu nodded and headed for Mimikyu again. It got close to it, jumped in the air, and was forming Electro Ball when Allister suddenly said, "Mimikyu, use Slash," and Mimikyu's shadowy hand reappeared, and this time its "claws" shone brightly.
It hit Pikachu from below and Pikachu flew on his back to the ground, exclaiming, "Pika pikachu!" And if something had to be deduced from the appearance of Allister and Mimikyu, the answer would have been pleased.
"Pikachu, can you continue?" Ash asked his friend and Pikachu nodded and slowly got up. It looked a little scratched, but its cheeks sparkled brightly and it looked determined. And that was enough for Ash.
"Great. And I have a plan for how to defeat that Mimikyu," he said quietly to Pikachu and this one nodded. It trusted Ash completely and knew that he would come up with something.
"Pikachu, Quick Attack, again," Ash said quietly to his friend and this one rushed forward again. Once Pikachu had reached the right spot, Ash said, "Jump, use Electro Webb and aim it at the ground."
Pikachu obeyed and jumped into the air and again formed a ball with his tail, which he hit towards the ground and formed an electrical net on the ground. "Now, use it as a springboard and jump high!" Ash instructed when the net had landed on the ground and Pikachu nodded.
It landed on the net, but instead of stopping at it, it bounced up and towards the roof of the Gym. When it was high enough, Ash exclaimed, "Now, Volt Tackle!" and Pikachu grinned, realizing where all this would lead.
It started to plunge down and towards Mimikyu and at the same time a bright electric layer formed around its body. Ash grinned. He wanted to see how Mimikyu would cope with this.
"Dodge it," Allister said, but Mimikyu didn't have time to move because Pikachu had already struck it and caused a small electric shock. And as it dissipated, Mimikyu lay on the ground faint and his eyes were replaced by familiar spirals.
"Mimikyu is unable to battle, so.. not again!" exclaimed Marnie as she was announcing the result, for just then Pikachu, weakened by Volt Tacle, also fell to the ground and spirals appeared in his eyes. The result was a draw again.
"Pikachu and Mimikyu are both unable to battle, so the result is a draw again," Marnie declared as Allister returned Mimikyu back to its ball and Ash retrieved a faint Pikachu off the field. "You were awesome, thank you, buddy," he said to Pikachu until he let it into Serena's lap in the auditorium.
He then returned to his place on the field and Marnie said, "Gym Leader Allister has only one Pokemon left, while challenger Ash has two, so the next match can resolve the situation. Battlers, please choose your next Pokemon!"
To Allister, choosing seemed easy. "Gengar, it's your turn!" he said throwing his Pokeball into the air and a grinning Ghost-type appeared in front of him. Ash, on the other hand, was a little uncertain until he made his choice.
"Dragonair, I choose you!" he exclaimed and also threw his ball in the air. A purple dragon-like Pokemon appeared in front of him and let out a shrilly cry. It was ready to battle.
Ash looked at it and thought this was Dragonair's first real match. Sure, they had trained hard, but the fought Dragonair was not, at least not properly. So now would be the time to see how it would accomplish this.
"Both battlers ready?" Marnie asked and Ash and Allister nodded. "Good. Then, begin!"
The fourth, and perhaps final, round had begun.
"Gengar, use Shadow Ball!" Allister instructed and Gengar formed a dark ball with his hands, which he threw towards Dragonair. "Dragonair, dodge it!" exclaimed in turn Ash and Dragonair flew to the air and dodged Gengar's Shadow Ball.
"Dragonair, Dragon Pulse!" Ash instructed and Dragonair opened her mouth and plunged a bright beam of energy towards Gengar.
However, Gengar just grinned and then, to everyone's amazement, merged into the shadows of the battlefield and disappeared from view. Dragonair's Dragon Pulse, on the other hand, hit the wall behind Allister and caused an explosion.
Dragonair hovered confused in the air and looked for her opponent. Ash also looked a little confused, but he didn't let it take over from himself, but said to Dragonair, "Be ready, it can strike from anywhere," Dragonair nodded.
In the auditorium, Serena and Gou looked a little amazed at Gengar's trick, and Melissa, who was sitting next to them again, said, "This is going to be exciting. Who might win?"
"Ash still has one Pokemon left after this, so he has a pretty good chance of winning," said Serena and Gou nodded.
"Yeah, but Allister can Gigantamax his Gengar. It creates a challenge," he said, and Melissa stated to it, "Yeah, but only for three turns. Then Gengar returns to his normal form."
"Anyway, but I hope Ash succeeds in this," Serena said, touching her blue ribbon again. She didn't know how Ash would take another loss in the row and hoped from her heart that he would win.
On the field, Ash and Dragonair tried to see where Gengar had disappeared, but didn't see anything from the shadows. Then, as Dragonair turned towards Ash, Gengar silently emerged from the shadows and hovered just behind Dragonair.
Ash noticed it and exclaimed, "Dragonair, behind you!" Dragonair turned around at lightning speed and Ash was just giving it the next command, but Allister was faster.
"Gengar, Venoshock!" he instructed and Gengar released a toxic attack on Dragonair.
It hit directly at Dragonair's face and made it scream shrilly. It dropped to the ground and was clearly poisoned. It tried to get up from the ground but failed and Gengar grinned viciously.
"Oh no!" Serena said when she saw what was happening to Dragonair and Gou said worriedly, "What is Ash coming up now?"
"I don't know, but hopefully something and soon," Melissa stated and they remained concerned to watch the development situation.
"Dragonair, can you get up?" Ash asked worriedly his Pokemon, which was lying on the ground and trying to get up. It did raise its head up, but then the venom of Gengar's attack took effect again and it collapsed to the ground again.
Ash bit his lip and at the other end of the field, Allister seemed pleased. He nodded at his viciously grinning Pokemon and that's when its eyes began to shine bright and it made Dragonair rise from the ground.
"What!?" Ash exclaimed when he saw this and the auditorium was also very amazed. Allister, on the other hand, didn't care about this, but nodded to Gengar again.
He grinned wide, and viciously, and again formed a dark Shadow Ball with his hands. At the other end of the field, Ash realized what it was going to do and it made him angry. The dirty game even from Gengar!
Dragonair also thought so. It saw Gengar throw the ball towards it and then its gaze darkened. That's not what it would allow!
Just when the ball was touching it, its tail started to shine bright and then it whipped the ball away with it. The ball changed direction and instead of Dragonair now hit Gengar's own face.
Gengar staggered back from his own move, which happened to be the Ghost-type and thus very damaging to it. At the same time, the effect of its gaze on Dragonair disappeared and Dragonair crashed back to the ground.
It was still under the influence of Gengar's Venoshock's venom, but it decided it wouldn't let it bother her. She slowly rose back up and then she screamed shrilly again.
Suddenly its body began to shine brightly and its shape began to change. Ash looked at it in great amazement and in the auditorium, Serena exclaimed, "It's evolving!"
True. Soon Dragonair was no longer standing on the field, but Dragonite. It looked at its new body in wonder and then it grinned. It was time to give a lesson to that Gengar.
Allister viewed the show expressionlessly, but then he picked up Gengar's Pokeball and called his Pokemon back, saying, "Gengar, it's time for us to give a little challenge to this match, too."
He then touched the ring on his wrist and Gengar's Pokeball grew bigger. Ash knew right away what he was going to do and said to Dragonite, "Ready, he's going to Gigantamax Gengar," Dragonite nodded.
Allister threw Gengar's ball into the air and then Gengar, who had turned into that huge monster, appeared in front of him. Dragonite, who had never seen anything like it before, swallowed and also those in the stands looked a little horrified again.
Gengar's appearance, on the other hand, didn't bother Ash very much. What bothered him even more was that it was a little harder to beat now, but this time he decided not to despair. Besides, he was Ash Ketchum, and Ash Ketchum lived out of challenges!
"Dragonite, get up in the air," he said and Dragonite nodded and opened her new wings. She rose to the air and then Ash said again, "Now, use Dragon Pulse!"
Dragonite nodded and then she opened her mouth and sent a ball of turquoise energy towards Gengar. It hit it and made Gengar roar.
Ash looked pleased, but Allister did not. "Gengar, use G-Max Terror!" he said and Gengar roared again and made a move that Ash didn't have very good memories of.
Ash remembered it and exclaimed to Dragonite, "Don't let it touch you! Dodge it using Extreme Speed!"
Dragonite set off to fly very quickly away under the influence of Gengar's move and Ash seemed pleased that it was working.
But then there was a sudden turnaround, and it wasn't a turnaround for the better. Part of Gengar's move happened to hit Dragonite and as a result, the Dragonite froze during the flight. It set off dripping towards the ground until it crashed straight into the center of Gengar's G-Max Terror.
Since there was no similar connection between Ash and Dragonite as Ash and Greninja, Ash did not fall to his knees now holding his head. Instead, he clenched his fist and exclaimed, "Dragonite, fight it! Don't let it get inside your head!"
In the middle of G-Max Terror, he heard Dragonite's faint but determined exclamation, and then to his surprise, he saw Dragonite rise up towards the roof of the Gym. Dragonite wasn't completely intact, but there was a certain determination in her gaze that had previously been met only from one raven-black haired trainer.
"Great, Dragonite!" Ash exclaimed as Gengar's move gradually faded away and Dragonite smiled. "And now, let's show those two what we're made of. Use Dragon Pulse!"
Dragonite cried loudly and then she headed towards Gengar, at the same time forming a light ball with her hands. It made Ash a little confused, as the last time he saw Dragonite do Dragon Pulse, she had done it with her mouth. But then his confusion evaporated, for he realized that Dragonite was not doing Dragon Pulse but Dragon Rush.
Her whole body began to glow brightly as it set out to plunge towards Gengar. There was tremendous determination in her gaze and Allister opened his mouth to give Gengar the next instruction. But he never had time to do it, because that's when Dragonite hit Gengar and made it roar. And for some incomprehensible reason also faint.
Dragonite slid down to the ground and watched as Gengar shrank back to its normal form and spirals appeared in its eyes. Then the Gym was completely silent for a moment until Marnie cleared her throat and said in an audible voice, "Gengar is unable to battle, so the winner of this round is Dragonite. And that means victory of this Gym Battle goes to challenger Ash"
Ash was silent for a moment until a wide smile appeared on his face. He had won and even so, with one Pokemon left unused! He raised his fist in the air in honor of the victory and exclaimed, "I did it! I beat my fourth Gym!"
Suddenly he felt someone wrap arms around him and felt someone hug him tightly. He glanced over his shoulder and saw Dragonite hugging him tightly. He smiled broadly at his Pokemon and then said, "Thank you, Dragonite. You were awesome, especially that last Dragon Rush was amazing!"
Dragonite smiled proudly and looked very happy. She had succeeded in her first Gym battle and even so great! And she was even evolved! Dragonite was more than satisfied. It was really worth going with this boy.
Suddenly she felt someone tap her hand and she turned her gaze down in amazement. She saw Ash looking at her his face a little bluish and he whimpered, "Could you... release... your grip? I... can't.. breath."
Terrified, Dragonite released her grip and released the bluish Ash. She didn't want to kill her trainer! Ash took a deep breath and held his chest, but he didn't have time to do it for long, because then someone with honey-blonde hair and bright blue eyes crashed to him.
"Ash! You did it! You beat Allister!" Serena exclaimed happily and kissed Ash straight on the lips. Ash still seemed a little bluish from Dragonite's hug, but realized respond to Serena's kiss and it occurred to him that it was worth winning if the prize was like that.
Dragonite, on the other hand, was not happy. That girl had taken that trainer away from her and dared to kiss him in front of her. Dragonite hmphed and turned her gaze demonstratively away. That girl didn't deserve her trainer.
However, the sweet moment of Ash and Serena wasn't interrupted by a Dragonite's jealous snort. Namely, they heard a snicker from behind them and as they turned they saw Gou and Pikachu grinning mischievously and Melissa with a camera on her face.
They blushed deep red and Melissa said teasingly, "Don't stop. Be like we're not here."
"Yeah, and in the meantime, you're taking pictures that you're publishing somewhere in gossip magazines. I don't let it happen," Ash said, holding Serena's hand and Melissa looked offended.
"Gossip magazines? Hah! I hate them! They're run by mere birds of prey," she snorted, and then Sonia, who had a big book in her armpit, said when she came up to them, "Yeah, and those pictures wouldn't be of much use anyway. Hardly any of them would be clear enough to even distinguish who it pictured "
Melissa gave Sonia a very sour look and opened her mouth to argue against it. And when they started arguing again, Serena slid at Gou and whispered in his ear, "Just wait until you meet Chloe again. That's when I'm there with my camera that never takes pictures other than very clear and HD quality."
A deep red appeared on Gou's cheeks and Serena grinned with satisfaction. She knew how to tease too! Then she stepped up to Ash again, who looked very confused, and took this again from his hand.
"What was that really about? And why the heck did Gou blush?" he asked, and same time scratched Pikachu, who had sat on his shoulder again, behind his ear. But to his irritation, Serena just shrugged and pressed a light kiss to his cheek.
"Secret," she said with a smile and Ash sighed. Then she continued, "Hey, Allister is coming! You get your badge"
Allister really approached them quietly like a ghost and, getting close enough, he handed Ash a small metallic badge reminiscent of a purple ghost on a brown background and said, stuttering again, "H-here. G-ghost B-badge. Y-you d-deserved i-it."
Ash accepted the badge with a smile and then lifted it into the air, exclaiming, "I just got Ghost Badge!" Pikachu also celebrated this by raising his little fist in the air and exclaiming, "Pika pikachu!"
Then Ash put the badge in his case next to the other badges and muttered, "Half collected, half left." Then he closed the case, put it back in his backpack, and said, "Okay, where's the next Gym I can challenge?"
"There's at least one in the Ballonlea," Sonia said as she approached them. They turned their gaze to her and she continued, "It's run by a Gym Leader named Opal and she specializes in the Fairy type. What if you went there?"
"Sounds good, right, Ash?" asked Serena and Ash nodded, grinning wide.
"Yeah," he said, then raised his fist resolutely into the air. "Ballonlea, here we come!"