GPS: Wow! I can't believe over a year has passed since I published this! I feel-
Dratini: Hi! c:
GPS: Hi, Dratini! What's up?
Dratini: Nothing! Can I have a hug?
GPS: Sure. And I don't own Pokemon. *hugs Dratini and she squeaks happily* Btw, this will be a different gym battle. Quite different than the others since I want this story to progress. Also, I have more interest in the story "What a Wonderful Lost", so take no offense if this story doesn't update as fast as you wish! It won't be abandoned like it was from November to April! Also, I have said in an A.N. on WAWL, but I am trying to not let Pokemon that Ash catches overlap!
Again, I've said this before, but I'll say it again. I will try not to make the story as elaborated and make it easier to read.
Ash got out of bed and looked at the clock to see it was already 7:48 in the morning. The gym more than likely was still closed, but he knew that a protein-rich breakfast and a well-devised strategy would be essential in taking down Lieutenant Surge. Ash stretched his arms and did waste the opportunity to apply pressure onto both of his feet now that he no longer was restrained by the bandages and crutches.
"Today marks the day that I will get my third gym badge," said Ash as he petted Dratini's cool head. "Hopefully."
"Be optimistic," she transmitted to his mind. "If you happen to fail, you can return later in the day like at Cerulean. After all, it's been only three weeks since you started your journey."
"Of course. That's right," said Ash with a sigh of relief. He had come this far this early in the quest, so he felt he was making a bigger deal than necessary. "Let's get ready now. I'm full of excitement." Ash returned all the Pokemon to their balls, but Dratini did not cooperate.
"What's wrong, girl?" said Ash.
"I miss being by your side, Ash," his mind picked up. She rubbed her head against his legs and looked into his eyes. "I feel a bit neglected."
"I guess I've been keeping you in your ball for safety reasons," said Ash. "I didn't know you felt this way, but I felt that it would be safer since you are such a rare Pokemon. Can you understand that?"
"Yes, of course," she replied through telepathy. "Do you think it's safe enough now to let me be by your side?"
"Hmm...considering my foot has healed, my reflexes are back to normal, I think, so yeah, you can travel by my side." He patted her head and they walked out of the door and saw a box on the ground before he almost stepped on it. "What's this?" He saw that there was a little note on the box that said "To Ash" on it and below it said "From Mom. Good luck, sweetie." Ash gasped and opened the box to see that it was a TM. It said "TM 28: Dig" on it.
"Dig is a ground-type move," he said to Dratini. "I don't think you'd be able to learn it, but I know someone who will." He took out the Pokeball that belonged to Cubone and set it on the device and pressed a few buttons. Within a few seconds a beep confirmed that Cubone had learned the move and Ash put the box in his backpack and the Pokeball on his hip and went to the lobby where Erika was talking with Nurse Joy.
"Hey, Ash, I am afraid that there is some bad news," said Erika.
"What's going on?" he questioned.
"Well...It seems that the Vermillion gym is closed at the moment due to faulty wiring," stated Erika. "It's kinda ironic when you think of it; the gym leader goes with an all-out strategy with electricity, but he hasn't a clue on how to fix some sort of circuit break, huh?"
"That's a complete bummer," stated Ash. "I was really counting on getting things started, but I guess we'll have to wait."
The sliding doors opened and Officer Jenny walked in. "Nurse Joy, I think you need to be aware that there is some sort of power outage spreading across the city. It isn't just the gym that is out of electricity; it's the entire southwestern section of the city! A lot of people have been making complaints. You should be aware of the situation in case the power fails."
"Of course, we will follow the necessary protocols when needed," replied Nurse Joy. The police officer saluted her and left the center.
"Do you think we should be worried?" asked Ash.
"I'm not sure, but it wouldn't be good if this Pokemon center lost power," responded Nurse Joy.
"I think we should see what's going on in the city," said Ash.
"Be careful," cautioned Nurse Joy.
Ash, who had Dratini by his side, and Erika went out of the Pokemon Center and enjoyed the fresh air the greeted them on the late-August morning.
"Do you think there could have been an accident, like a tree falling over, and the damage is spreading across the city?" asked Ash.
"Good question; it is possible," stated Erika, "although there wasn't any bad weather last night. Maybe it has something to do with Team Rocket."
"If that's the case, we definitely need to find out!" stated Ash. "Those creeps have done enough damage to us as well as innocent Pokemon."
The streets that they were walking on were fairly desolate, but they then came across one man and Ash said, "Excuse me, can you tell me if there is something big going on? Someone said the power's been going out in places."
"Yes, some people say it's a mysterious Pokemon, but that is only what I heard from word of mouth," replied the man.
"Does Team Rocket have any involvement in it?" asked Erika.
"I haven't heard anything about that group in relationship to this power outage, but stay on guard, whatever you do."
"Don't worry; we will," stated Ash as they thanked the man who walked away. "I bet the gym leader here may know something about it; maybe he has returned to the gym?"
"Yeah, Lt. Surge is like a big figure around here," said Erika. "He's fought in several wars for America before moving here. He's bound to know something."
The two of them continued onward and headed to the Vermillion City gym where Ash knocked on the door. Someone opened the door, but it wasn't the gym leader, rather, a female in her early 20's wearing camouflage and military boots.
"Oh, you must be challengers," she said. "Sorry, but the gym is closed until Lieutenant Surge gets back. Whenever that is."
"Do you happen to know where he is?" said Ash.
"What's it to you?" said the young woman without much emotion.
"We've been hearing about the power outages across the city, and since Lt. Surge is the gym leader of the gym here, he would seem like the best person to talk to," said Erika. "We're just visitors but we fear the problem may be related to Team Rocket."
"Hmm, you seem to have a lot of courage," said the young woman. "Well, if you think that special, he's at the power plant which is on the east side of the city near Diglett's cave. Just know that Lt. Surge is a pretty tough man and looks down upon those who are weaker than he are. Figuratively and literally."
Ash and Erika left the area and he turned to Erika. "I wonder what she meant by literally?"
"Maybe people he beats in battle get so scared they cower in fear and get on the ground?" suggested Erika.
The two of them were left in speculation as they kept on following the way to the power plant. They had to ask random people for directions at times since they didn't know where to go and eventually arrived to their destination after about half an hour or so. The power plant was surrounded by high electric fences that had barbed wires to keep people out but probably not enough to keep back Pokemon, especially those of the ground or grass type. Not that they needed a reason to wander off to this secluded area.
Ash and Erika didn't know where to enter the power plant but then a voice called them.
"Hey! What are you doing here?"
The turned around and saw a man who stood easily at 7 feet. He was wearing a camo suit and had spiked blonde hair and combat boots.
"I presume that you're Lt. Surge?" said Erika.
"Yes, but what are you two doing here?" he answered. "You guys are trespassing and I have to figure out what is causing all of this strange outage. I don't think it's anything like I've ever seen."
"Someone at the Pokemon gym, where we just were, said you'd be here," said Ash. "We think but are not entirely sure that this may link to Team Rocket. What do you think?"
"I think you should just leave," said Lt. Surge. "Unless you want to start something?"
"Like a battle?" said Ash.
"You bet," said Lt. Surge.
"Would you give me a badge if I win?" said Ash.
"Haaa," laughed Lt. Surge with a snide laugh. "Sounds like you are a feisty one. Okay, I'll concede you a badge if you win."
"I guess I'll be the judge," said the woman who was at the gym earlier.
"Ah, Janelle, what are you doing here?" asked Lt. Surge.
"I decided to see about this power outage myself," she said. "It sucks not having any electricity to even pour a cup of coffee."
"I'm glad that you're here, Janelle, because I need an unbiased referee," said Lt. Surge.
"Excuse me?" said Janelle. "You're having a gym battle here? You should be thinking more about the power outage than having a gym battle."
"These kids want to have a gym battle here of all places," said Lt. Surge. "I told them that if they could beat me—"
"I'm the challenger, not the two of us!" corrected Ash with a clenched fist.
"Yeah, well, even if the two of you were battling me, I could probably still beat you," said Lt. Surge as he took out a Pokeball. "Go, Electabuzz!"
"Is this really necessary?" said Janelle.
"Not particularly, but I am getting awfully bored investigating and not getting any results," said Lt. Surge. "Send out your Pokemon, baby!"
"Ash, send me out to battle," said Dratini through telepathy. "We dragons take half as much damage to electric moves."
"That's true, but I have a better idea," said Ash. He took a Pokeball off his belt and threw it to the ground. Cubone popped out and stared at his opponent with angry eyes hidden by the skull mask he was wearing.
"Heh, a ground type," scoffed Lt. Surge somewhat unimpressed despite the fact that Ash was using a Pokemon that was electric type's only weakness. "You know, just because you got a ground type doesn't mean I'm at a complete disadvantage. You would be wise not to underestimate a gym leader in future battles just by types alone. Electabuzz, use fire punch!"
"Wow; his electric-type Pokemon knows a fire-type move," thought Ash. "I could easily douse the flame with bubblebeam but I better check out what else his Electabuzz will do."
Ash watched as the fist of the electric type concentrated the external heat of the environment and channeled it into a punch.
"All right, Cubone, stand down and dodge it!" warned Ash. The boy was placing a lot of faith in this Pokemon that he had little practice with. The fiery fist zipped past Cubone and the little dinosaurian Pokemon wiped a bead of sweat off his face.
"Not bad…for a baby," said Lt. Surge.
"Ash, don't let his taunts throw you off," said Erika. "You've dealt with people taunting you; just stay focused and you can win!"
"Right! You don't intimidate me; you're just another trainer!"
"I'm a gym leader and a veteran of war, kid; don't view me as if I am just some run-of-the-mill adult who just started a few weeks ago!"
"He's right, kid," said Janelle. "Lt. Surge is my second Lieutenant in the army and he can get pretty berserk. You'd best be wise about whom you're facing and not let your confidence get the better of you or you will lose."
"Let me show you what a well-thought plan can do!" said Lt. Surge. "All right, Electabuzz, unleash an ice punch on the little weakling!"
Electabuzz's right fist began to glow a whitish-blue as he was releasing all the heat in his fist to the surrounding. Small crystals of ice were formed and he then launched it towards Cubone. This reminded Ash a lot of what happened at Cerulean City gym and the training he had done that same day when he caught Zoroark.
"Cubone! Bubblebeam!" he said. Obeying the order, Cubone inhaled deeply and released a barrage of the bubbles that were the size of a typical beach ball at Electabuzz's fist.
"A water attack? From a ground type?" said Lt. Surge with little belief of what he was seeing. A bubble enwrapped Electabuzz's fist and the bubble froze over, encasing his entire fist!
"Hey, that was totally unexpected from a baby like you," shouted the military gym leader. "Use your free arm to use fire punch on that little munchkin!"
"Cubone, dodge it and use headbutt!" ordered Ash as he watched the electric monster prepare another fiery fist. With his right fist still frozen, Electabuzz created a sizzle with his left one but nothing happened; his fist had gotten drenched with water and the fire that was forming had been completely doused.
"Electabuzz, get in there and show them a rolling kick!" ordered Lt. Surge. Electabuzz approached Cubone and did a spinning roundhouse kick, sending Cubone flying onto the ground. He sat up and adjusted his skull mask and grunted in pain.
"Cubone, are you able to keep going on?" questioned with great concern. He had no desire in the least to keep fighting if his Pokemon were suffering, but Cubone signified that he was still able to continue by giving Ash a nod of his head and take a fighting pose while carefully watching his opponent.
"Cubone, attack Electabuzz with his weakness! Use bonemerang!" commanded Ash. Cubone nodded and launched his bone towards the yellow and black monster, but Lt. Surge clearly wasn't going to let Cubone's signature move be the end of the match.
"Electabuzz, deflect the bone by using a rolling kick on it!" shouted the military man as Electabuzz unleashed a spinning kick on the projectile that was heading his way. His foot knocked back the bone and sent it hurling towards Cubone who luckily caught it in time.
"Cubone, use bubblebeam to counterattack!" ordered Ash. Cubone let loose another bubblebeam but Lt. Surge had a smirk appear on his face.
"Electabuzz, use psychic!" he ordered.
"An electric type that knows a psychic type?" said Erika with disbelief. "Ash, you better think of something fast!"
The bubbles were enveloped with the mystical energy that Electabuzz was producing and the spheres of water stopped in their track for a brief second. They immediately went in reverse and were heading towards Cubone. Ash knew that the attack would do double the damage since ground types were weak against water, so he improvised a strategy and said,
"Cubone, dig underground and avoid the attack!" ordered Ash quickly. Cubone made haste and used his paws and bone to hide underground while the bubbles harmlessly went by.
"I didn't know Cubone knew dig!" said Erika. "The PokeDex said he only knew headbutt, bone club, and bonemerang!"
"Thank my mom; she sent it to me via mail and it was outside my door when I woke up," explained Ash. "Now finish the attack and use bone club to make an end of this battle!"
Cubone tunneled underground and finally sensed the location that Electabuzz was currently standing. The little Pokemon created a small hole and used his bone to knock Electabuzz off his feet, giving Cubone the opportunity to carry on his beating.
"Bone club Electabuzz's frozen fist then use bonemerang!" commanded Ash. With a swift swipe of the bone, it shattered the ice and freed Electabuzz's fist.
"Use ice punch on that short one!" ordered Lt. Surge with a clenched fist. The man had a strong feeling that he was getting backed into a corner but he would never openly admit it or he would lose respect as a man of the military. The fist turned icy blue again and he launched it at the ground-type Pokemon.
"Cubone! Deflect it with your bone!" said Ash out of desperation. Cubone held out the bone and it collided with the ice punch. The bone froze all the way except where the part where Cubone's hand was. "Now! Multiple headbutts and unleash an icy bonemerang then!"
Cubone charged into Electabuzz's stomach and the yellow and black monster grunted. "Rolling kick again!" was the comand that was given to Electabuzz. He did a roundhouse kick and sent Cubone flying sky high, about 8 feet. He then threw the bone which probably weighed an extra pound more from being encased in ice and he landed on the ground. However, the impact was rather tough for his short stature so he fell over. Electabuzz had taken a lot of damage from the previous attacks that Cubone had dished out and the flying frozen bone that impacted him was enough to take him down for good. He moaned in defeat and his eyes were spinning fast.
"Electabuzz is unable to fight, which means that the challenger, Ash, is the winner of this battle!" said Janelle.
Cubone ran up to Ash and Ash hugged him while Cubone wagged his little tail.
"I...I lost to a baby!...I mean a kid," said Lt. Surge. "It matters not; a loss is a loss and I will accept defeat, and to prove that you won, here is the Thunder Badge." He handed ash an eight-sided yellow star with an orange octagon in the center. It reflected the gleaming light of the sun and Ash put it in the inside of his jacket and chuckled.
"Thanks a whole lot!" said Ash as he smiled and laughed again with triumph over his accomplishment.
"Unfortunately, I left the prize TM I give winners back at the gym," said Lt. Surge with a disappointed sigh.
"It's okay; I can wait until then although it really isn't necessary," said Ash as he patted Cubone on the head and returned him to his Pokeball after feeding him an Oran berry. "I'm more interested in finding out why the out power went out through various sections of the city. Is it a technical difficulty?"
Lt. Surge went to a power box and pressed a few buttons and looked at the wires inside. "It doesn't look like anybody's been messing with the controls here, so it must be something entirely different. The interior of the power plant has a complex maze of wires and different machinery, so the problem that we are facing could be of colossal scale. I know that this is a dire situation, but we especially need to find the cause soon before the Pokemon centers across the city loose electricity."
"I'm afraid that a few already have," said a female voice. The gang turned around and saw that it was Officer Jenny.
"Hey, Officer Jenny, I remember you; you were at the Pokemon Center at 3rd and 5th street," said Erika. "Do you think that you could help us?"
"Oh, that was my second cousin you saw," said Jenny with a smile, earning nervous chuckles from Ash and Erika. Nonetheless, the policewoman had a smile on her face and continued. "But yes, I have come to help see what the problem is. More than likely, an electric Pokemon is responsible for this since they love power plants. I don't think that you two," she said to Ash and Erika, "should be here; it's quite dangerous."
"Relax. This kid beat me in a gym battle and my private Janelle here witnessed it. These eager children have the heart to try and investigate what is going on here, so I let them," explained Lt. Surge.
"Very well, but they will be underneath your responsibility if they get hurt, and it won't be good particularly for a gym leader," warned Officer Jenny. "I have a Magneton with me that can detect disturbances in electromagnetic waves." She took a Pokeball off her hip and let loose the electric/steel type Pokemon.
"A Magneton?" said Lt. Surge. "But those emit radio waves that damage electronics. That's the last thing we would want to use in this place!"
"No need to panic. This is a trained Magneton that doesn't emit those waves," reassured Officer Jenny. "Because by now, all of us would be having horrible earaches if it wasn't trained."
"One of the things we should look for," said Janelle, "are any signs of a possible intrusion. Look for damaged fence, possible tunnels, scratch marks. Anything of that nature is bound to be a clue."
"Right," said the group as the split up to look in opposite directions. Ash was alone with Dratini and he let out a big sigh.
"Do you think that gym battle was a bit...unreal?" he said to her as he petted her cool head.
"What do you mean?" she asked through telepathy.
"I mean...it didn't seem like a challenge; you know how hard we had to work at Brock's gym," he explained. "You know that Riolu was strong against the rock-type Pokemon and that one of the main reasons we won against Misty was through that thunderbolt technique that we found, but..."
"It's okay," said Dratini as she gave Ash a "hug" by wrapping her tail around his abdomen. He returned the gesture and they continued looking for about 20 minutes until he decided there was nothing out of the ordinary at the power plant's perimeter.
"Nothing," said Officer Jenny. "Everything in this section seems to check out alright. There were no cut cables, damaged fence, tunnels, nothing. I'm starting to get quite frustrated if you want my say."
"Shoot! I just don't understand!" said Lt. Surge.
Ash looked up and he saw a spark sliding across a power line. "Hey, Lt. Surge?"
"Yes?"
"You know a lot about electricity. Is it normal for a spark to do that across the power line?" asked Ash out of curiosity as he pointed at it for everyone to see what he was doing.
"No...That isn't supposed to happen at all," said the tall man with fear in his eyes. "Something must be going on up there."
"I wonder...Magneton, use metal sound on that spark!" ordered Officer Jenny. Magneton's entire body began to glow a light blue and released a high-pitch wave towards the spark. The waves were visible and they collided with the spark, creating a screaming sound!
"What was that?" shouted Ash.
"Is it...a Pokemon?" said Erika with her left hand on her chin. All the sudden, the spark released a purple ball of some sort of energy and it impacted Magneton hard.
"That was a shadow ball!" said Officer Jenny. The spark disappeared and a figure took form; it looked like an upside-down orange stake with a ball under the part that one would hit it with a hammer. The ball had blue eyes and a little smile with thunderbolt-shaped hands that were almost blue-grey in color.
"What is that thing?!" said Janelle with awe at the Pokemon that she had never seen before. Ash took out his PokeDex and pointed it at the Pokemon to analyze it.
"Rotom, the plasma Pokemon of both electric and ghost types. It has the ability levitate which enables it to avoid all damage from ground-type moves. These species have no gender. Since its body is made up of plasma, it can freely enter electronic devices and cause chaos. Its confirmed forms are the normal, wa-"
Rotom hovered towards Ash and extended its bolt-shaped arms and zapped him. The plasma Pokemon giggled and then entered Ash's PokeDex. All of the humans and Dratini as well gasped at this and then Rotom's face appeared on the screen of the PokeDex.
"Hey! Get out of there at once!" ordered Ash angrily. The Rotom did not like the way Ash talked to it and blew a raspberry at the boy through the electronic screen. It started laughing and Officer Jenny said,
"Magneton, use discharge to the open air to attract Rotom out of there!" The Magneton's body began to glow and it fired a jolt of electricity into the air. Rotom flew out of the PokeDex and opened its mouth and swallowed the electricity!
"The PokeDex said it was an electric type as," thought Ash. "I would use Cubone because he is immune to all electric attacks, but he had a big battle and needs to rest. However, Dexter also said it was ghost type, too. If it could only stay put, I could use Zorua's feint attack which would be super-effective and get rid of this pest."
"Is there any way to get Rotom to stay still?" said Erika to Officer Jenny.
"Actually, there is a move that Magneton knows that can make Pokemon who have the ability levitate or bird Pokemon come to the ground," said Officer Jenny. "It's called gravity and only certain Pokemon can learn this move. Magneton, use it and bring that nuisance to the ground!"
Magneton unleashed a purple wave that manipulated the laws of physics by creating a force field in the area of Rotom. The force of gravity caused the plasma Pokemon to slam into the ground and could not remain airborne. Ash took a Pokeball off his hip and threw it to the ground, releasing the dark-type vulpine Pokemon.
"Attack its weakness by using a feint attack, Zorua!" Zorua cried his name and approached Rotom from behind and then tackled it, causing a large amount of damage, but not enough to knock it out. Rotom's body began to glow and a fast jolt of electricity escaped its entity straight towards the greyish-black fox who tried his best to dodge it but to no avail.
"That was its shock wave, a move that can't be avoided!" said Janelle as she looked worriedly at Ash's Pokemon.
"Dratini, you are a better match against it," stated Ash, "so I want you to go in there and use twister on Rotom! But be prepared to launch a bubblebeam attack if it destroys the tornado with one of its own attacks. Meanwhile, Zorua, return to my side; I may need you to use another feint attack since that is one of its only weaknesses and you can rest a minute."
"Got it!" said both Dratini and Zorua through telepathy. Zorua dashed over to Ash's feet and Dratini spun around quickly, causing a disturbance in the air current and hurled the resulting twister that formed towards Rotom. As expected, Rotom wasn't willing to be hit by the cyclone so it unleashed a shadow ball at it that caused both of them to cancel each other out. As on cue, Dratini used bubblebeam and knocked back the plasma Pokemon that was trying so hard to get away. Rotom knew that Magneton was responsible for its inability to escape so it created a purple energy wave to prepare a shadow ball.
"Zorua, make your move! Use feint attack before it hits Magneton!" ordered Ash. The fox Pokemon didn't need to be told twice and approached Rotom disarmingly and unleashed a powerful tackle. The attack worked wonders on Rotom and it was visibly on the brink of losing all its energy. Ash knew that if this Rotom was ignored, it would create more havoc with the city's electricity and potentially other locations. Ash took out a Pokeball and threw it at Rotom who got sucked inside. The ball shook twice and then Rotom popped out with an angry expression on its face, indicating that it would not be captured so easily.
"Weepinbell, use sleep powder!" ordered Erika as she let out her yellow flower Pokemon. She opened her mouth and unleashed a huge gust of somniferous blue powder towards Rotom who instantly fell asleep upon contact. "Now throw your Pokeball! They're much easier to catch when asleep!" advised Erika. Ash nodded and took out another one and threw it at Rotom who once again got sucked into the ball. It shook once.
"Come on," said Ash as he saw it shake again. Then a final shake, then ping! Rotom was officially captured and Ash's new Pokemon, and a rare one at that.
"Yes! I caught a Rotom!" he exclaimed at all the other humans but the Pokeball soon vanished. "Oh. Right. I have over six and that means it's being transported to Professor Oak. I haven't spoken to him in a few days so I am going off to say hi to him on the phone."
"I'm pretty sure that rascal you just caught is fully responsible for the power outages," said Officer Jenny. "I will inform the department and the city's trained electricians will see about fixing the power."
"Right," said Lt. Surge as he saluted Officer Jenny who left on her motorcycle. He turned back to Ash and placed a giant hand on his shoulder and said, "You did great, kid. You have a lot of courage for a child your age and you deserve the Thunder Badge. I was at first hesitant to give it to you, but you proved that you're the real deal. Come by the gym and I'll give you a TM that should help you along the way."
"Lead the way," said Ash as he, Erika, Lt. Surge, and Janelle began to walk back to the gym. Lt. Surge went to a door which appeared to be an office and handed Ash a small TM disc.
"This is zap cannon," he explained. "Its accuracy is a bit off, but it packs a very powerful punch and will always paralyze the opponent it hits. Think of it as a poorly aimed thunderbolt that will always paralyze your enemy. Your Rotom you just caught is a good candidate for this move."
Ash examined the yellow box he received and shook Lt. Surge's hand that drastically dwarfed his own. He put the box in his backpack and thanked the man and went to the Pokemon Center with Erika.
"Excuse me!" said Nurse Joy to Ash. "Ash is your name, correct?"
"Yes, ma'am," he said with a nod.
"Sorry, but I sometimes forget the names of trainers," she trailed off. Ash told her not to worry about it and she resumed talking. "You have a phone call waiting for you."
"Oh?" said Ash as he looked at Erika. He went to the video phone and stepped a bit in fright when he saw Professor Oak's face zoomed in.
"Ash, how is it going, lad?" said the elderly man.
"Fine," said Ash with a chuckle. "I was gonna call you about Rotom."
"Well, isn't that a coincidence!" said Professor Oak with a smile. "That's exactly why I wanted to call you." Rotom appeared on screen and zapped Professor Oak, causing his hair to stand up curly. "Your Rotom is a very interesting specimen and I was wondering if you would be willing to "trade" it, but it wouldn't be permanent since you caught it. Unless you would like it to be."
"Trade?" said Ash. "What do you have to offer for Rotom?"
"Excellent question," said Professor Oak. "You see, two nights ago I was wandering through Pallet Town and I heard some rumor that some ghost-type Pokemon were roaming through the area. I thought it was a bit far-fetched since they normally appear in the Lavender Town area, but I was shocked to see in the pitch black that there were indeed two different ghost types! A Duskull and a Spiritomb! Anyways, after a battle with my Umbreon, I caught Duskull with a great ball and Spiritomb with an ultra. I have heard rumors of an electric type that comes from Sinnoh that is capable of entering electronics and creating havoc. I immediately got excited and tried to get a plane ride over to that region and have my colleagues take over, but you completely saved me a trip!"
Ash felt a little flattered at what Professor Oak said and smiled. "Before I think things over, can I see the two Pokemon, Duskull and Spiritomb?"
"Absolutely," said Professor Oak as he walked off screen to get their balls. Because they were in two different balls, the flash of them escaping were completely different from the one of a normal Pokeball. The two ghost type Pokemon appeared behind Professor Oak and smiled at Ash. "To my left," said Ash as he pointed to Duskull, "is a female Duskull who is a pure ghost type. She has two stages of evolution: first Dusclops and then Dusknoir, the latter having incredibly high defenses and physical attack strength. To my right is Spiritomb, a male who is a dual type of both ghost and dark. This will give you a great advantage since he is immune to all normal, fighting, and psychic type moves. There is only one documented weakness of Spiritomb: fairies."
"Fairies, huh?" said Ash.
"Yes, fairies are still largely unknown in their strength and distribution, but it is something of interest to us researchers," answered Professor Oak. "Have you decided about Rotom yet?"
"Give me just a second to think," said Ash.
GPS: Sorry if you thought the gym battle/chapter was boring, but I will make the future ones be quite a bit more interesting. :D This chapter received its influence from "To Catch a Rotom!" (S16E31) Next chapter will be in Saffron City!
Also...big questions I that I hope you state in a review...should one of Ash's Pokemon evolve in the next chapter? In this story, his Pokemon will want to evolve. Also, should Ash keep Rotom or trade it for Duskull or Spiritomb? Answer in the poll I created! :D
Each chapter from now on will be around 5-6k. Also, Clefairy will still remain only normal type despite having as of Gen VI the fairy type.