A/N: Hello, my fans! So, I know that it hasn't been two weeks as I'm writing this chapter, but after a week, I was getting bored from not making Pokémon chapters, so I started writing 8 days into my break. However, unlike my Teen Titan chapters, I really love making chapters for Ash Platinum, so it won't be too strenuous on my mind. Let's get going then.
After having some lunch, Ash and Barry followed Dawn as she went to the Marsh to catch as much as she could. It took several hours and hundreds of Safari Balls, but due to their combined efforts, they managed to catch one of every Pokémon the Great Marsh had. Dawn caught a wooper, a barboach, a tangela, an azurill and a tropius. Barry caught a yanma, a skorupi, a croagunk and a carnivine. Ash caught a paras, an exeggcute, a kangaskhan, a shroomish and a kecleon. Leaving the Great Marsh, the three headed to the Pokémon Center so that Dawn could have her Pokedex scan all Barry's catches.
"Thank you both so much!" Dawn expressed extreme gratitude to her male friends as she hugged them both, causing them both to blush and laugh. "I'm not sure I would've ever been able to catch them all that quickly and easily!"
"Eh, it was fun actually catching them with friends." Barry tried shrugging off with a smile. "There was just way too many for me to venture out there when I have a journey."
"Then why did you stay here for two weeks. Even for a single traveler, that's plenty of time to catch 14 Pokémon." Ash pointed out.
"Uh, I've been training under Crasher Wake. I wanted to show you how far I've come, thank you very much." Barry defended with a huff.
"I still doubt that." Ash rolled his eyes but didn't sound condescending. "Now that you mention it, I should be heading to the gym now. Time to get my fifth badge.
"Hey, I just realized that this is the first time we all get to see a gym battle at the same time! This will be so fun!"
"Ehh, why not? It'd be nice to see him flounder like a fish with my own eyes for once." Barry jested while Ash lightly punched him.
"Yeah right, Barry. Afterall, why should this be any more different?"
"Dang it." Ash groaned as the battle field was primarily a swimming pool with small platforms spread out for non-water types. "Well, Torterra is definitely out of the question." He sighed in defeat. The room went dark, startling Ash and Dawn whom was sitting in the bleachers with the not surprised Barry. The far side of the gym lit up from a spotlight while wrestler music blared out and smoke poured out of the sliding doors while a voice introduced him.
"Hello ladies and gentleman! Welcome to the Pastoria City gym! Introducing in the home corner, standing at 6.3 feet and weighing in at 236 lbs., it's CRASHER WAKE!" Throwing off his white cape, a large man wearing dark blue and black wrestling pants, orange boots and wrist bands, and a mask belched out laughter as he got pumped up.
"Greetings! It is so great to be challenged! Behold my glory! Victory will be ours!"
"And in the opposite corner, standing at 5.5 feet and weighing at 133 lbs., coming in with four gym badges, fighting out from Twinleaf Town, it's Ash Ketchum!" Another spotlight shined on him, forcing the young trainer to shield his eyes in annoyance.
("No wonder the survey asked me those questions.") A screen lit up from the wall opposite of the bleachers, showing Wake on the right and Ash on the left, with three circles filled with grey, representing their Pokémon.
"You will each have the use of three Pokémon, and the battle is over when all on one side are ! And in addition, only the challenger may substitute Pokémon! Let the battle begin!"
"Go, Gyarados!" From the gym leader's Pokeball came out one of the scariest water Pokémon to exist. It was a 21 foot long giant blue and cream colored serpent with overlapping scales. Within its intimidating maw were razor sharp teeth, and its eyes looked furious. It roared with such volume that the three teenagers had to cover their ears in pain. Once the ringing in their ears stopped, Ash brought out a Pokeball.
"Luxray, I choose you!" Revealing an electric type, the gym leader groaned before shaking off the moment of vulnerability. The two circles on the screen showed the Pokémon they were starting with.
"No matter! We will prevail against the challenge! Gyarados, use Dragon Rage!" Creating a ball of fire, it shot the attack at the electric lion. Ash made a buzzing noise, which prompted Luxray to charge up with an electrifying armor. And yet in spite of that, he still took major damage as the attack exploded upon contact.
"Luxray!" Dawn cried out.
"Oh man, Ash got blaster by Master Wake!" Barry exclaimed, pulling at his hair. Once the smoke cleared, Luxray did look hurt, but he was definitely not out as he stood tall by yelling his name.
"Luxraaay!"
"I can't believe it! Despite taking a ferocious Dragon Rage in the face, Luxray is undeterred! What will Crasher Wake do now!" The announcer asked with epic excitement.
"I'll tell you what! Gyarados, use Bite!" Swimming through the water like a snake, the water Pokémon was heading fast to chomp down on its enemy. Ash made a buzzing noise again while stomping his foot down. Getting the message, Luxray hopped across platform to platform, the two getting closer at a rapid pace. When the Atrocious Pokémon flew out of the water to attack, Ash yelled out,
"Now!" Luxray proceeded to let all the built up electricity in his body out, using Spark to full effect just as Gyarados clamped down, receiving an extremely painful shock. Gyarados may have been tough, but with its water/flying type being dealt with a charged up electric move, not even it could withstand the attack and fell into the water with a hard splash, zapped into unconsciousness.
"Whoa, whoa, wait a minute! Did he just one shot the atrocious Gyarados?! How strong is Ash's Luxray?!" The announcer yelled in a shocked tone. Returning his Pokémon, Crasher Wake said,
"Impressive that you managed to knock out my Gyarados that quickly. I trained her to withstand electric attacks better than most, but I guess Luxray are too powerful. However, you'll have to try something else with my next Pokémon! Go, Whiscash!" Out next was a blue catfish type of Pokémon with a yellow underbelly It had a big, deep mouth with whiskers growing out from above its lips, and its forehead had a W on it.
"And with that, Crasher Wake shows off his Second Pokémon that's immune to electricity! But this match is too close to call!" The announcer declared.
("That's what you think.") Ash thought to himself as he said, "Luxray, return." Once the electric type was in his ball, he told him, "Thanks Luxray." Taking out his next Pokeball, Ash shouted,
"Bibarel, I choose you!" For the first time in a while, the Beaver Pokémon was sent out onto the field.
"He's wanting to make sure Whiscash doesn't have the field advantage." Dawn pointed out.
"But what does his Bibarel have? I don't really know what they could possibly have in terms of strong moves aside from hyper fang." Barry countered.
"Move into the water, Bibarel!" Ash instructed, and the beaver did so with a splash.
"Zen Headbutt!" Wake commanded with a smile. Whiscash swam at a fast speed, its forehead glowing blue.
"Counter with Rollout!" Curling into a spinning ball, it was a good defensive tactic when as soon as Whiscash rammed into her, Biberal rolled right over the headbutt, only taking minimal damage.
"Continue your attack with Mud Bomb!" From its big mouth, a ball of mud shot through the water, landing against the unsuspecting Beaver Pokémon, exploding into an obscuring mess.
"Hyper Fang!" From the muddied water, Bibarel shot from it with her teeth glowing white, and delivered a powerful chomp onto Whiscash's tail, inflicting a sharp pain which was evident on the catfish's face.
"Try to escape with Water Pulse!" Creating a sphere of water, Whiscash smacked it against Bibarel, blasting her away with a decent attack.
"Oh man! They just won't stop! How long can this go?!" The announcer yelled, getting caught up in the action.
"I'll tell you, right now! Finish this with Zen Headbutt!" Crasher Wake shouted with vigor.
"Counter with Hyper Fang!" With two glowing attacks heading toward each other, they collided with equal force that created an underwater explosion. Both Pokémon were sent flying and landed on platforms. Both were knocked out.
"I can't believe it! A Double K.O! This has never happened before!" Returning his Whiscash, the gym leader whistled.
"That was good kid! You're really giving me an enjoyable battle! I guess my ace will bask in the spotlight! Go, Floatzel!" Onto the field came the same Water Weasel Ash is using. Ash smirked.
"Bibarel, return." He said as he withdrew his fallen Pokémon. "You did well. I know you'll win next time." Taking out a Net Ball, he yelled, Floatzel, I choose you!" Now on the field were two Floatzels.
"Oh yeah! Now that's what I'm talking about! A battle of the Sea Weasels! Let's see who is supreme!"
"Interesting! I was figuring that you would want to finish this with your Luxray!" Crasher Wake said.
"And just take your badge easily? After my last gym battle, I really want to actually earn this." Ash explained, his smile dropping a bit but not vanishing.
"I heard from Maylene. I can understand your drive to push yourself, not going the easy route. For that, you have my deepest respect. However, that doesn't mean we'll let you win."
"I wouldn't have it any other way. Right Floatzel?" He turned his head to the left and nodded while smirking.
"How very interesting! Who will win?! My master, or my best friend! Augh, I don't know who to pick!" Barry cried out while Dawn looked at him unamused. The researcher returned her gaze to Ash.
"I know he'll win."
"Floatzel, use Aqua Jet!" Ash ordered as his Pokémon surrounded himself with water and shot himself at his foe.
"Bounce it back!" Wake told his Floatzel, whom responded by puffing up its floatation sacs, creating an absorption armor that tanked the attacking Aqua Jet with little trouble. Ash's Sea Weasel was repelled easily and landed on one of the platforms.
"Wow! Their floatation sacs are that strong?!" Ash gasped in disbelief.
"It's not only strong enough to carry a person, even moves like giga impact can't over power it!" Crasher Wake explained.
"If brute force won't work, then we'll just use speed. Agility!" Running all over the field, Ash's Pokémon was disappearing and reappearing, confusing the defensively superior Floatzel.
"No matter, we'll just keep attack where he will be! Ice Fang!" Jumping into the air, the enemy Floatzel aimed to where Ash's was headed, and managed to fire two chilling zigzagging beams from its teeth at his doppelganger's midsection, resulting in a howl of pain from the victim.
("Dang. He knows how to counter those faster than himself. We'll just have to endure the onslaught then.")
"Use Ice Fang again!"
"Counter with Swift!" Ash's Floatzel jumped into the air to send a barrage of golden stars to intercept the icy beams, creating an explosion. "Use Crunch!" Floatzel sprung at the opposing Floatzel, hoping to inflict damage first.
"Bounce it!" Inflating the sac again, he soon became too big for the attacking teeth to bite down properly, rendering the attack useless. "Bring him into the water!" Crasher Wake instructed with a prideful roar. Grabbing onto its species kin, they took a dunk into the water. "Now use Waterfall!" From the same spot, a pillar of water shot from the pool, with Ash's Floatzel on the unfortunate end, especially when the move went so high that they slammed into the ceiling.
"Puff up then use Swift!" Imitating the gym's Floatzel, Ash's puffed out his floatation sack, pushing his foe away while using his tail to create a barrage of golden stars, landing a direct hit. "Quick, use Aqua Jet!" Like a comet, Ash's Sea Weasel raced down on the opposing doppelganger and connected right in the midsection.
"Bring it on! Counter with Ice Fang!" Now that it recovered, Wake's Sea Weasel pushed back Ash's with the zigzagging ice beams from its teeth. In spite of that, both Floatzel landed on a platform. Ash's Pokémon looked like he was about to collapse. "I think we've endured enough. Floatzel, use Brine!" From its mouth, a mighty powerful torrent of water was shot out, looking much more powerful than a Water Gun.
"Spin around it with Aqua Jet!" Zooming ahead, Floatzel swam right up against the attack, like a snake climbing a tree.
"Ice Fang!"
"Bounce it!" By the the time the Ice type move connected, Floatzel was already shielded with it's floatation sac, and he was right in front of the other one. "Crunch!" Throwing the other weasel down, he pounced on and delivered a crunch on his back! The opposing Floatzel cried out in pain before fainting.
"Absolutely incredible folks! Ash Ketchum is the winner of this match! He has earned himself the Fen badge!" The announcer cried out in amazement.
"Way to go Ash! You rocked!" Dawn cheered, clapping her hands.
"Oh yeah, boy! Whoo Whooooo! That's my best friend right there!" Barry went wild with excitement seeing this victory.
"Great job as always Floatzel. Take a good rest." Wake told his Pokémon, clearly proud. "Ash! You did a masterful job! You should be proud!"
"Oh, I am, Crasher Wake! This was exhilarating!" The young trainer agreed wholeheartedly.
"I also had a great time battling you! Let me come over to-" He didn't have time to say anything more when everything shook with a loud boom. The lights flickered, the water splashed around a bit, and everybody stumbled around from the floor rumbling. "Everybody, get outside now!" Wake ordered as everyone hastily left. When everybody got outside, they saw what looked like the aftermath of a bomb North of the city, lighting up the night sky. "The Great Marsh! Who's responsible for this?!" The teenagers and gym leader ran up to the gate to see a Team Galactic goon run out of the gate, panting and a little frightened.
"Phew, that was rough."
"Hey, what have you done to the Great Marsh?!" Wake demanded an answer.
"What've I done? Technically, it wasn't me. It was a prototype of the Galactic Bomb. I just simply pushed the button. Don't worry, it was only 20 tons of TNT. I need to report the results. Cheerio then, and that's an absurd costume, you daft codger!" The goon then ran away.
"Like he's one to talk about costumes. You three, do NOT follow me, or let anyone else in unless it's Officer Penny!" Wake then went into the gate to inspect the damage.
"You guys go. I'll hold the fort here." Barry declared as he positioned himself as the sentry of the gate, folding his arms. Ash handed Dawn two of his Pokeballs.
"Take them to the Pokémon Center. I'll chase the goon."
On the beach leading to Pastoria City, the goon was using a tablet type of device reporting the results.
"Boy, does that Galactic Bomb pack a pretty big wallop. Once the real stuff is deployed, there's nothing we can't blow up. I wonder what they have planned for-AUUUUUGH!" Without warning, the goon was swept up by a staraptor by the shoulders. He was screaming in fright as he was taken a couple hundred feet up. He only stopped when he saw a trainer peek over the bird's shoulders and smile smugly at him.
"Ello, Gov'na. Ain't it a beautiful ev'nin this is?" He asked in an exaggerated cockney accent.
"You'd better let me go, you brat!" The goon demanded, but Ash didn't budge.
"I thought all British folk were polite and such. But you went and blew part of a national park up. I'm here to ask why."
"Like I'd ever tell you anything! Glory to Team GalaAAAAA!" Staraptor let go when Ash patted his wing, letting him fall for a hundred feet before he was caught again by the cloth on his back.
"Perhaps you didn't here me. Maybe that height wasn't scary enough? Let's see how far we can take it. Staraptor, take us much higher." Obeying the command, Staraptor flapped his wings until it seemed like they were a mile high. From where they were hovering at now, they could see a lot of land. Mount Coronet still towered above them, preventing anything from the West to be seen, but both of the cities of Hearthome and Veilstone could be seen in the distance, and Pastoria nearby, and yet oddly not Sunnyshore during this time of night. The clouds made it really hard to tell far far the land was below them or what was around not illuminated by light, which made it perfect for scaring the goon good. "Wow, it really is a beautiful night from up here."
"Get me down from here, you demented kid!" The goon screamed from how extreme this was."
"Here's what's going to happen. Tell me what I want to know, or you'll have a nice long fall. I won't kill you, but I may just keep this cycle up all night."
"Never!"
"Okay. Round 2 it is then." For a second time, the goon fell through the air, flailing and screaming in horror as he fell with no indication how long it was going to take. After 10 seconds, he was caught again by Staraptor. "Shall we go again for a third round?"
"Okay, okay! Find the tablet I dropped when you picked me up! Please, I don't want to keep falling like that!" He cried, tears falling from his face.
"Good little goon." With a snap of his fingers, Staraptor let go for the final time, initially hearing a scream of fear before they turned to grunts of pain as he was dropped right on top of a tree. After a few seconds, the goon fell onto the ground, covered in cuts, scrapes and branches, moaning in deep pain. Managing to get up, he hobbled away sobbing,
"Bleeding monster, that kid is."
"Now then, let's go get that tablet." Ash spoke as his bird flew back to where they picked him up.
Detective Looker was talking with Dawn in the Pokémon Center, exchanging information.
"This is worrisome. And Ash is following the culprit?" Looker asked the young researcher.
"He is as we speak. I have full confidence he'll deliver the news to us." She answered with no hesitation.
"I appreciate your confidence." Ash's voice filled the room. They turned to see Ash come in the Center.
"Ash!" She cheered joyfully as she jumped and hugged him. He was surprised at first, but returned the hug for a few seconds before they disengaged.
"Did you get him?"
"Yeah, but he escaped."
"Oh. Well, at least you tried." Dawn said sympathetically.
"Eh, he wasn't the important thing. This is." Ash replied as he shrugged off his backpack to take out a tablet. "I believe its what he was using to send a report to Team Galactic."
"Brilliant, my boy!" Looker exclaimed as he snatched the tablet from the trainer's hands. "With this, we can find out the secrets Team Galactic is hiding! Too bad it'll take days to send this to headquarters since I'm terrible at hacking."
"If I may, we do know a computer specialist in Hearthome City. Her name is Bebe Strana." Dawn suggested.
"Brilliant! I now have a more immediate lead! You both have made great contributions to my work!" And with that, he dashed out of the Pokémon Center.
"So, how did you get the tablet?" Dawn asked her partner, glad that Looker was gone.
"Let's just say that goon had a few long falls through the sky. He's alive, but he'll be limping for a while." Ash answered nonchalantly.
"No way. That... is hard core." Dawn chuckled grimly as they high fived in somewhat sadistic glee. The Pokémon Center doors opened up again to show Cynthia and Barry talking.
"That's very interesting about the lakes. Hey! Did you get the culprit Ash?!" Barry jumped from one topic to the next as he got up in Ash's face with heavy anticipation. After pushing his childhood friend's face away with a single finger, he responded,
"Not the person, but I gave a tablet he was working with to Detective Looker. He's on his way to Hearthome City now to talk to a programmer we know."
"Looker? Small world if you two know him." Cynthia chuckled.
"Man, the next time I see someone who vaguely looks like Team Galactic, I'll teach them a thing or two they won't forget!" Barry growled as he grinded his fist against his palm.
"Hold on there, Naruto." Ash joked, placing a hand on his friend's shoulder. "I appreciate the enthusiasm, but we need to plan these things out. They're now above petty thievery at this point. We need tact and strategy."
"Hmph, well while you and Dawn talk about that, I'm going to Canalave City, so that I can get my next badge, and become even stronger! Smell you later!" In the same way Looker left, so did Barry.
"So you two are friends of his?" Cynthia asked.
"I know. We're both the most fortunate and unfortunate teenagers in Sinnoh to ever know him." Ash sarcastically answered with an eyeroll. "But, whenever the chips are down, he is a good friend through and through. He's my childhood friend after all."
"How interesting. Anyway, I was on my way to investigate Lake Valor when I saw the explosion. Now that I know how potentially dangerous Team Galactic is, I need to head home and make sure everyone is safe. Head to Canalave City. Barry is right; you'll need to be stronger than you are now for the challenges you'll eventually face. And as for you Dawn..." The champion turned to the young researcher. "...I hope you get to collect every Pokémon in the region. It may help you with the secret to the legendary Pokémon." Hearing that activated a drive in the girl as she suddenly looked motivated and confident, while saying,
"Thank you, Cynthia! I will!" The champion laughed.
"I'll see you later." She then left, leaving the two of them. Dawn turned to Ash.
"Let's eat some dinner and go so sleep, so that we can further our quests!" The trainer smiled in excitement.
"Of course."
A/N: So, in case you're thinking it, of course Ash from the anime would never do something like that with the Galactic grunt. But this Ash isn't that Ash. In fact, I could actually see how the way I made my Ash is nearly identical to Cyrus, seeing as they were both emotionally damaged and had it rough as kids. Only Ash had a strained yet good family life and a best friend with Barry while Cyrus was totally shut off, eventually seeing emotions as the world's strife. I also saw Cynthia's request to deliver something she could do herself weird in the game, especially if she was going to be there by the time the protagonist had beaten Cyrus, which she might've gotten there sooner if she didn't stop to give us the Old Charm item. So we're skipping that part. With all that out of the way, here's the exciting news; for every chapter I make up to the 28th, I'm going to publish each and every one of them in 24 hour intervals at noon so that you have new content without being overwhelmed. How fun is that?! Anyway, now with Rotom.
Here is #407: Roserade, the Bouquet Pokémon; It attracts prey with a sweet aroma, then downs it with thorny whips hidden in its arms. Each of its hands contains different toxins, but both hands can jab with near-fatal power. Where does it keep the whips? The toxins I can understand but not the whips.