A/N: Ha, so funny thing. Since it's been a long time since I've updated between the Solrock chapter and the Jirachi chapters, I actually forgot Sakura's Eevee evolved and became Espeon, so I made that mistake for several chapters until I fixed it. But still, whoops. lol.
Just like when they visited Snowbelle City in Kalos, our heroes once again reach a tundra town called Snowpoint City, the uppermost city of the Sinnoh region. Ash, Elaine, Trace and Sakura were in their winter garb, Sakura wearing a purple winter jacket, pink winter leggings and white snow boots, since it was so cold that it was snowing.
"Ah, arrived on schedule, like I predicted." Elaine beamed, though Trace looked at her weird.
"Uh, I'm the one who said this was our destination and how long it would take."
"Yeah, but I was the one who made us arrive on time." She replied with an air of smugness.
"Yeah, after yelling at us to make sure we were on time." Ash retorted, to which she pouted with annoyance.
"You're supposed to be on my side."
"Haha, how about we just go in and see what the city has in store?" Sakura awkwardly laughed as they headed on in. However, instead of getting the first impression that it was just a peaceful and quiet place, an Abomasnow jumped out of the trees and prepared an attack!
"Abomasnow!" It created a shard of ice and threw it at them, but Ash was quick to respond.
"Pikachu, use Iron Tail!"
"Pika! Pikachu!" The Mouse Pokemon leapt off of Ash's shoulder and her tail glowed white, before twirling around to smash the Ice Shard into pieces. Both of the Pokemon landed on the ground, prepared for battle. "What's all this about?!" Ash questioned, but a female voice answered him.
"I was just testing you out." A woman in a blue sweater and tan shorts plus white and blue stripped stalkings revealed herself, jumping out of a tree and landing on the ground. Her black hair was also in twin buttoned ponytails. "Hi, I'm Candice Caldwell, and I'm the gym leader of the Snowpoint Gym!"
"Oh, we've been looking for you!" Elaine said as she held up her phone. "I wish to battle you as part of the WCS!"
"Yippee, we haven't had a challenge in so long!" Candice cheered, confusing the group. "You see, things have been a little on the slow side at my gym."
"Slow huh?" Ash inquired. "That's too bad."
"Like Janet Visquez in Vermillion City back in our home town of Kanto." Trace remembered.
"Yeah, not a lot of trainers go to places this far North and so cold, and Crasher Wake sure is the most popular in Sinnoh's normal class, but I at least have my job as a teacher at the Pokemon trainer school."
"Oh yeah, we went to another Pokemon school in Hoenn's Rustboro City. Roxanne was cool."
"Awesome! Look, there's the school I work at!" Candice pointed to what did look like an academic building.
"Oh wow, a gym leader and teacher."
"So, how many gym leaders have you beaten to reach around the 4800 mark?"
"Collectively between the three of us, we've beaten 15 gym leaders, which would mean we average about 5 gym leaders." Elaine answered. Sakura followed.
"And I just have the one gym badge from Violet City in my home region of Johto. I want to compete in the Johto Pokemon League."
"Sounds like you're all making good progress." Candice complimented them. "I wonder if I can show you three off as examples for my class? Can we have the gym battle later? It would be a great experience for all of them."
"I'd be happy to do what I can. Right Pikachu?" Ash asked his partner. "Pika!"
Class was starting, and Ash, Trace and Elaine sat with a bunch of adults with their own partners out of their own Pokeballs, including three onlookers from the back seats observing.
"Today I have a special treat for you! We're lucky enough to have three very special guests! Each of them came from Pallet Town in the Kanto region, with one of them challenging me for a WCS battle. Please give a welcoming hand to Ash Ketchum, Trace Keen and Elaine Gladwin!" Everyone clapped for the three teens whom waved and laughed. "Now from what they've told me, they've collectively fought through 15 gym leaders all the way from below rank 10,000 to just under half of that where I stand.
"15?!"
"They've traveled the world most likely and they're so young!"
"How cool is that?!" A chef asked the person sitting next to him.
"So Elaine, how would you say is the best strategy for winning a battle?"
"Well, I'd probably say that the best thing to do is be versatile. You can have a preference, but make sure that you're not crippling yourself by focusing too much on one thing. Gym leaders may be type specialists, but trainers work best if they both have Pokemon with various type advantages for the same or different problems, and have moves that work well against opponents even if they're resistant to the Pokemon's natural typing. It's also important that, if possible, you have two Pokemon for each role of being powerhouses, tanks and speedsters so that no matter the situation, you're prepared for anything. That's why champions are so powerful."
"Cle." Clefable agreed with a nod.
"Whoo, that's a lot to write down." The chef sighed as he tried to write down what she said as fast as possible.
"Wow, that's a very excellent point!" Candice praised Elaine's well explained battle strategy. "Alright, now it's time for Candice class! I call this my quick kiai quiz! Press the button on the desk before answering." The gym leader handed everyone a battery powered button.
"A quiz?" Ash pondered.
"Pika?"
"It's good practice for winning a Pokemon battle you know." The man next to Ash told him.
"Winning a Pokemon battle." Ash echoed in contemplation as he placed a hand over the buzzer.
"Neat, a Pokemon quiz." Elaine giggled.
"This should be easy." Trace chuckled.
"Vee." His Eevee agreed.
"Question 1, Pikachu is-" Ash buzzed first. "Wow, impressive speed Ash! You're on!"
"If it's about Pikachu, I know it. Pikachu is an electric type!" However, a wrong sound effect came from Candice's mouth.
"Good guess, but wrong!" He and Pikachu gasped. "Now let me finish my question. "Pikachu is a Mouse Pokemon, so then what kind of Pokemon is a Cyndaquil?" The man aside from Ash buzzed next out of five. "Jeremiah's the first!"
"The Fire Mouse Pokemon."
"That's correct!"
"A mislead." Trace noticed. "She made the question seem like it was about Pikachu but it was a lead up to the Johto starter. That would surely weed out those that buzzed too fast."
"Eevee." His partner commented, rubbing her head.
"Next question, Abra is-" Jeremiah buzzed first again.
"He knows already!" Ash gasped.
"Jeremiah, the answer?"
"That would be 24 hours."
"Excellent, right again!"
"But I don't even know the question. What does that mean?!" Elaine complained.
"Let me explain. Abra sleep for 18 hours a day, so how long does the smell of a Stunky last?"
"Good prediction Jeremiah!" Everyone clapped out of being so impressed.
"Time intervals. This guy knows his Pokemon just from knowledge in his head alone. He could have me beat when it comes to speed quizzing." Trace sweated from the competition.
"How much does he know about Pokemon?" Sakura asked in wonderment.
"Esp." Her partner replied with uncertainty.
"Okay, next. Meowth, with a few other exceptions, has a signature move that only they can learn is..." While there was frustrated mumbling from the three disguised students wondering if it was a trick or not, Jeremiah buzzed again. "Jeremiah, first again!"
"Payday, ma'am." A certain woman became frustrated that the one who sat next to her didn't answer, but this went mostly unnoticed.
"Another correct answer!"
"Excuse me?" A gruff looking man in a leather jacket raised his hand.
"Yes?"
"This quiz is about Pokemon battles, yeah? I came to learn about that."
"Alright, fair enough. Does anybody else here wondering the same thing?" Two other people raised their hands. "So class, my quiz was supposed to hone your reflexes razor sharp! In a quiz or battle, if you can learn to read a situation accurately, it will work to your advantage."
"Yeah, but not if a situation turns out to be misleading." Trace grumbled to himself as he tapped the button annoyed without buzzing it.
"After all, in a Pokemon battle, your Pokemon's doing the actual battling, leaving all decisions to the trainer. What we're doing is classroom exercise that will help you become a trainer that a Pokemon can believe in."
"Now that's telling it straight." Sakura remarked, taking that to heart. Upon leaving class when it ended, Ash scratched his head.
"Talk about confusing."
"Not like Pokemon trivia was your strong suite anyway." Trace chuckled. Ash took playful offense as he glared at his best friend with a smile.
"And what's that supposed to mean?"
"Just that battling's all you're good at." Elaine giggled, getting a playfully betrayed look from the boy.
"Elaine, aren't you supposed to be on my side like I'm supposed to be on yours?!"
"Well when it comes to your girlfriend you should agree. But when it comes to my boyfriend I can tease him however I like." The tomboy proclaimed confidently as she placed her hands on her hips and puffed her chest out, closing her eyes with a smug attitude on it.
"Why you..." Ash gently punched her arm, but she greatly exaggerated in response going along with it.
"Ow Ash! Don't you know you aren't supposed to hit girls?!" She pushed him into Trace, whom pushed Ash away laughing.
"Hey I don't want him! He's your boyfriend after all!" As they got into a play fight right in front of Sakura, she laughed as well from how much they were acting like jerks but taking it in such a harmless fun way.
"Wow, they sure do know how to make vitriolic behavior so fun." However, an alarm went off, startling the teenagers.
"What's going on?!" Ash gasped.
"Pika?!" As they ran to the problem, they spotted Jeremiah being harassed by a trio of people, his Skuntank wrapped up in Carnivine vines, and a Seviper on the attack!
"Pikachu, Quick Attack!"
"Pika!" The Mouse Pokemon dashed ahead and bashed into the Fang Snake Pokemon so hard it fainted on the spot, collapsing on the ground.
"No posing there." The woman gulped.
"Alright, critical hit!" Ash cheered before going back to serious.
"Why you! What are you doing?!" Candice called them out, prompting them to remove their disguises to show they were Team Rocket!
"Hey, one step closer and the Stuntank gets it!" Meowth threatened them.
"A Meowth that talks?! Impossible!" The gym leader gasped.
"When it comes to impossible, you teacher types should talk." Jessie started.
"We sprint to life while you eggheads walk!"
"Through the snow!"
"And the sleet!"
"'Round the clock!"
"Bringing chaos at a frosty pace!
"Dashing through snow with glee on my face!"
"Catching bad colds and taking vitamin C."
"When everything's worse, nothing feels good to me."
"Achoo!" They all sneezed.
"Jessie!"
"James!"
"Meowth's the name!"
"Placing teachers and students in their place!"
"We're Team Rocket!"
"In your face!" Candice took out a Pokeball in response.
"This is no joke, and I will not allow evil thieving criminals in Snowpoint City!"
"Neither will we!" Elaine and the others allied with her.
"Abomasnow, you're on!" She sent out her ace, then she turned to our protagonists.
"Aboma!" It yelled as it came out.
"Abomasnow and I will get those Pokeballs back! You guys take care of the rest!"
"Azumarill, let's go!" Elaine sent her water/fairy Pokemon out to take care of the problem, whom yelled as her Huge Power ability activated.
"Ha, we're not going to bite!" James laughed at the notion.
"Instead we'll just use Haze and do it right!" Jessie said as the recovered Serviper spewed out black smog to try and cover their tracks.
"Abomasnow, use Blizzard!" Candice countered. The Frost Tree Pokemon blew a gust of snow and ice, blowing away the Haze and covered not just Team Rocket in a layer of sleet, but even Carnivine holding Stuntank!
"Azumarill, use Aqua Tail!" Forming a spiraling vortex of water from her tail, she charged through the Blizzard, which in response started to insta-freeze the Aqua Tail, rather making a spiraling ice flail right down to the orb at the end of her tail.
"Look that that!" Jeremiah gasped.
"I can't believe it!" Candice was astonished by the combination of moves.
"If I somehow changed Aqua Tail into an ice type move, that will really put the hurt onto Carnivine!" Elaine told everyone while Azumarill ran towards the frozen Carnivine, and swung her tail to bash and shatter the attack against the poor grass type, inflicting a tremendous amount of damage as it cried out before being knocked out.
"Eevee, use Shadow Ball!" Trace ordered, making the normal type form a ball of black energy at Team Rocket, creating an explosion which sent them and the Pokeballs free from their bags flying into the air.
"Espeon, use Psychic!" Sakura requested, so the Sun Pokemon's eyes glowed blue so that each and every Pokemon had their momentum stopped.
"Ah! What's the reason for this?!" James cried out.
"Twerps, always the twerps! If only we stayed inside that class!" Jessie complained, but Meowth just thought of something.
"Hey, I knows what to do next time. I'll remember it's cool for Meowth to talk!" As Team Rocket blasted off again, Espeon helped each and every one of the Pokeballs be lowered safely to the ground.
"Great work catching all those Pokeballs." Sakura said as she scratched her Pokemon behind the ears, to which he was very appreciative to it.
"Esp."
"Flawless execution of that frozen Aqua Tail, Azumarill." Elaine complimented her own as she hugged the Aqua Rabbit Pokemon, whom hugged her back.
"Wow, what a surprise!" Candice approached the group giving their Pokemon praise. "That ice Aqua Tail was simply awesome!"
"Gee, thanks Candice!"
"Azumarill!" They blushed at the compliments.
"We work well as a team." Trace chuckled.
"Well, we'll see how well you will do in our WCS battle tomorrow Elaine."
"I owe you all a big thanks for saving Skuntank and everything else." Jeremiah told the group. "I was helpless in battle, and your tactics made my quiz solving skills seem like nothing. I'm going to put my kiai into it so I can battle just like you four! Today's class was the best one I've ever had!"
"Great! Our work is done for today!" Candice decided. "But tomorrow is when our battle will really show who has the superior kiai. So put your best shot into it!"
"You bet!" Elaine laughed.
"Clefable!" "Azumarill!" Her Pokemon agreed.
Tomorrow has finally arrived, and Elaine was totally pumped as she ran out with Clefable behind her.
"Alright, I'm totally pumped!" The tomboy cheered.
"Clefable!" Her Pokemon was just as confident.
"Good luck Elaine." Ash told his girlfriend as they pecked with a kiss.
"Thanks sweetie."
"Can't wait to see what your battle's going to be like." Sakura said. Though unlike the Snowbelle gym where it was like a giant cooler in there, this was just a regular room with a battle field made of ice.
"Guess you can't really beat Wulfric's room." Ash shrugged as he looked around.
"Then again, it must be crazy expensive to have the entire room frozen." Trace reasoned. "Maybe Snowpoint just doesn't have the budget." A Rotom Drone appeared.
"Welcome, welcome, welcome! You have been approved for an official Pokemon World Coronation Series Normal Class battle! The challengers here are Candice Caldwell from the Snowpoint City Gym vs Elaine Gladwin from Pallet Town! For today's battle, you can choose two Pokemon! When a Pokemon on either side are unable to battle, that side loses! Both challengers bring out your Pokemon!"
"Yeah, let's go!" Candice removed her sweater and tied it around her waist before choosing her first Pokemon.
"Sneasel, you're on! She sent out a bipedal black colored weasel looking creature with white claws and a pointy red ear.
"Sneasel!"
"Let's go Clefable!" Elaine encouraged her starter, whom ran onto the ice, though slipping and needing to focus on her balance.
"Battle Begin!"
"Clefable, use Moon Blast!" Clefable formed a ball of pink energy and threw it at Sneasel, but Candice was ready.
"Sneasel, dodge it, quick!" Like an ice skater, the Sharp Claw Pokemon quickly gained momentum as it got out of the way easily from the fairy type attack. Clefable was caught off guard by how fast the Pokemon was, making circles around her.
"Now use Metal Claw!" The Pokemon's claws glowing white, Sneasel went on the attack as it passed by the Fairy Pokemon, slashing twice across her chest as Elaine's partner took a knee from the pain.
("Sneasel is too fast, and I don't have any Pokemon to outpace it. I need to hinder its ability to move across the ground. Unlike Hitmontop though, I doubt Sneasel would be inconvenienced by having the floor covered with fire.") Thinking about what little she's seen of Candice's combat style from yesterday, she saw Abomasnow blow away a Haze with Blizzard. So... what if she obscured the battle field instead? ("That's it!") "Alright Clefable, use Flamethrower!"
"Counter with Icy Wind!" The ice/dark type certainly was able to counter the incoming fire, which produced a lot of steam from the snow of said attack warming up and filling the room with water vapor.
"Whoa, it's turned foggy!" Sakura gasped.
"She's trying to render its speed advantage moot." Trace caught onto Elaine's strategy.
"Hmph, good move Elaine, but looks like you haven't created that much of a fog!" Candice pointed out since the ears of both Pokemon stood out above the steam. "Sneasel, use Fury Swipes!"
"Listen and roll with the waves Clefable!" Elaine told her partner. The Fairy Pokemon nodded and closed her eyes, listening to the skating of the incoming Pokemon and its attack. Even with the slippery floor, Clefable was able to anticipate where the attacks were going to come from and leaned to her sides just enough not get more than glancing blows from the faster Pokemon. Sneasel seemed confused, since it was pretty sure it was right there taking hits.
"What's wrong Sneasel?!" Candice asked her Pokemon.
"Counter with Flamethrower!" Breathing out a plume of fire, the Sharp Claw Pokemon was pushed back painfully as it yelled and crashed into a pile of ice, which it jumped onto. "Quick, hide in the steam!" Following Elaine's orders, Clefable ducked down into the vapor, resulting in Candice and Sneasel losing visual.
"Keep an eye out Sneasel! Just rely on your kiai!"
"Sne!" It responded as it tried to pinpoint where the fairy type was, when Elaine ordered,
"Moonblast!" A pink orb was formed behind Sneasle, attracting its attention as it was fired.
"Counter with Metal Claw!" Trying to slash it in half with its powered up claws, the ice/dark type attacked the incoming ball, but its platform wasn't very stable or gripping as it lost its footing, and screamed as it was overwhelmed by the attack and suffered an explosion upon hitting the ground, resulting in it being knocked out.
"Alright!" Elaine pumped her fist.
"Wow!" Both of the boys gasped at how well she executed her attack.
"Way to go Elaine! Win this!" Sakura cheered.
"Wow Elaine, your kiai is both strong and tactical! This is the kind of battle I like! Now get ready for this! Medicham, show us your kiai!" The gym leader then sent out a pink colored Pokemon which looked like it was ready for yoga class.
"Wait, wha? But Medicham aren't ice types." Ash was confused. Trace nodded.
"She must use one to throw off challengers, and it'll be difficult to sneak up on this time since it can read aura, so hiding's not going to work."
"Medicham, use Confusion to clear away the steam!" Candice went first, so it went and pushed away the water vapor with its psychic powers, blowing it into the three spectators.
"Whoo, that's some chilly steam or fog!" Sakura shivered.
"You call that a psychic type move, well here's a better one! Use Psychic!" Clefable's eyes glowed blue, and thus so did the Meditate Pokemon as the fighting/psychic type was pushed back into the pile of ice Sneasel landed on, shattering it to ensure it hurt.
"Counter with Fire Punch!" Though grunting from the pain, Medicham would not go down as it ran ahead before jumping up and prepared to attack with a fist that combusted with flame.
"Block with Moonblast!" Forming another pink ball, she used it as a shield against said fiery attack. The two struggled against each other to dominate with their attacks, but the resulting clash simply exploded, sending the fighting/psychic type soaring into the ceiling, crashing into it, and fell onto one of the horizontal ceiling supports.
"Medicham!" Candice cried out.
"Finish it with Psychic!" Elaine requested. Despite being hurt by the explosion, Clefable was shown to not be down like her opponent as she focused on the Meditate Pokemon, whom found itself floating away from where it was resting, and forcibly shoved down into the ground at high speed, yelping as it smashed into the ground, leaving a small crater where it lied unconscious.
"As a result of today's battle, there has been a change in the WCS rankings effective immediately!" The Rotom Drone announced.
"You did awesome Clefable!" Elaine laughed with joy as she hugged her starter Pokemon as she ran into her arms.
"That was quite interesting." Ash grinned.
"Hats off to you Elaine! That was fun, don't you think?" Candice laughed as she returned her Pokemon. "Thanks Medicham."
"It sure was! It may have looked easy, but it seemed like I had to rely more on quick wit than the quickness of my Pokemon."
"Still, your kiai has screamed out its determination more than mine." Elaine then sneezed, then laughed,
"Yeah? Well your coldness tolerance is more than mine. I could use a hot cocoa." Everyone laughed. "So Trace, where do we go to next?" Checking his phone, he said,
"We're going to the Seafoam Islands. Where we'll find Blaine Keys in Kanto."