The trainers Pokemon formed a wall in front of Gary's side. They ranged from ones as small as weedle to those as large as dragonite or snorlax. If they were in G1 or an evolution of one, Gary was sure it was safe to assume that there was at least one of them there.
"There's no way we can take them all on…" Jack whispered to Gary.
"Well, do you have any better ideas? if we run, their moves will just overtake us in seconds" he whispered back.
(Music: Synergy Burst (Shadow Mewtwo)- Pokkén Tournament)
"Ready?" Gary asked.
His group nodded. Jack sent out his Beedrill, an Aerodactyl, a Golem, a Machoke, a Fearow, and a Wartortle. Brock his onyx, and Geodude.
"Hyper beam/Giga impact/Draco Meteor/Fire blast/Dragon Rage/hydro pump/Ancient Power/Flamethrower/Telekinesis/Flame Wheel/Hydro Cannon/Leaf Storm/Earthquake!" Shouted many of the opposing trainers.
The attacks hit home and knocked out most of the heroes' Pokemon apart from Ashly. Jack, Gary, and Brock all got blown backwards onto the ground where they were sent tumbling, ending with them being knocked out too.
"Well, looks like you're all that's left" Said one of the opponents.
"I won't let you hurt them anymore" she projected to them.
"And what are you going to do against all of us?" Another asked.
"Whatever I can" she answered simply.
She put her right front foot forwards and her left rear one behind her as her diamond began to glow brilliantly. The plates on her back extended, her horns grew longer, and her chest plate's spikes extended. She grew to full height as well.
The markings on her started to flash in rainbow colors as a giant beam erupted from her mouth into the line of Pokemon. A swirling blue and white dome of energy expanded around the area of impact and began to grow, vaporizing the ground as it grew larger and larger.
"EAT THIS!" She yelled. A huge ball of power sped through the beam and upon impacting the energy dome, it exploded and shook the ground like a volcanic eruption. The beam stopped and she collapsed in the ground, her diamond cracked with several parts missing.
When the smoke and debris cleared, it showed everyone was completely knocked out. A shallow crater in the street about two feet deep at the center and about ten yards across at the widest point holding the enemy Pokemon was now present.
(End music)
"Holy mother of Arceus, we only managed to get here in time to see a giant blast of power, but it looks like a battle of the ages just unfolded. Our cameras will show us the footage later, but right now, we need to get these people and pokemon serious help" said the male announcer.
Gary's eyes fluttered open. He quickly shut them again due to the bright examination lights directly in front of his vision. He sat up and looked to his left and right and saw Brock in chair on his left and his pokeball belt on a table to his right.
Brock looked over at him and smiled. "Gary, I am so glad you are awake. Those attacks hit you pretty hard. I wasn't standing directly in the way nor was Jack and seeing as you were in front of us both, you took the majority of the blast. How are you feeling?"
"Well let's think, I just took a large number of some of the most destructive non-legendary Pokemon moves head on. How do you think I feel?" Gary replied tiredly.
"Mister Gary, most of your Pokemon are recovering without any problems" a nurse said from the doorway.
"Wait…what do you mean most of them?"
"Well you see…there's one of them…the blue one…" She tried.
"Where is she?" He interrupted her.
"I'm sorry?"
"I said where is she?" He replied.
"I'm sorry, but you can't see that one right-"
"Listen carefully lady, I've been friends with that one in particular since I was like five years old. Tell me where she is now or I'll just get the info out of you by force" he said.
"It's in the Pokemon center next door…in urgent care" she said slowly.
Gary swung his legs off the bed he was on and stood up before making his way to the door, stumbling and almost falling over several times. He pushed the nurse aside and began to walk down the hall.
Brock grabbed Gary's belt and ran…er…walked after him.
When Gary made it to the room where Ashly was, he walked in and over to the side of the bed she was in.
"G-gary? Are you all right?" She relayed to him.
"I'm more concerned about you. I didn't drag myself down eight long hallways, two flights of stairs, and threaten to brutalize a nurse just to talk about myself" he said.
She crawled out from under the sheet and clonked him on his head softly with her front right foot
"You idiot…..I'm honestly surprised you didn't keel over and die the moment you got out of bed" she joked weakly.
He picked her up and hugged her, then noticed her cracked diamond.
"What happened to you?! Your jewel is broken!" he said in shock.
"From what we could gather by analyzing the footage of the last battle you were in. She most likely used up almost all of her power to defend you and your group. Due to the fact she was already on the verge of fainting, she drew more power out of her body than she nor any known Pokemon should ever have to at one time. Then on top of that, she used that power all at once in one last overwhelming attack. She shouldn't battle at all for a while. We are currently trying to get ahold of a large enough amount of the same filling material used for the gems on Alolan Persians. It should be coming in tomorrow…I just hope it works" nurse joy said.
"Can I take her out with me and come back then?" Gary asked hopefully.
"Against my better judgement, I'll allow it. But absolutely, under no circumstances whatsoever, no matter who's life is in danger, are you to have it use any moves or skills. I don't care if there's a Team rocket invasion, your pokedex and gym badges get stolen, you get attacked by a group of Mega Tyranitar, Gengar, and Gyarados, or even if Arceus is outside this poke center waiting for you, NO BATTLING, PERIOD" she said.
He was about to leave until Joy stopped him again. "Also, unless you want her condition to become even worse, you need to feed her, give her plenty of attention, and keep a close eye on her" she told him.
(operator one speaking. Yeah, according to the Pokedex entries from sun, moon, ultra sun, and ultra moon, Mega Gyarados can cut large ships in half from its speed, Mega Gengar tries to take the lives of any and everyone including its own trainer, and Mega Tyranitar's back is split open from mega evolution and its destructive instincts are the only thing keeping it moving. It's unclear if it can even hear it's trainer's orders. So if you go out and see a group of those Pokemon in front of you, it's pretty much a 99.99 percent chance of either death, life-ending pain, extreme suffering, pure agony, or all of the above happening to you)
Gary carried Ashly out of the Pokemon center and took back his pokeball belt from Brock, which he put on.
"And here he is, the winner of not one, not ten, not twenty, but thirty or more different trainer battles in under one minute" said the female announcer from the battle royal.
"Tell us, how did you train such raw, unbridled, concentrated, and destructive power?!" Asked the male one.
"I didn't. My Pokemon just did that to save my friends and I. And to any of you trainers out there who think that was cool and that you should try and replicate that, if I find out you did so, I will personally make sure you need to train yourself to merely think again, rather than train Pokemon. That attack almost killed this poor thing!" Gary said into the microphone they offered him while petting Ashly's head.
"Aww, it's nice that you care so much about me" she projected to him.
"Unfortunately, I do" he whispered back.
"Well, despite the fact that you got your ass handed to you, and your Pokemon had to fight without your help, you win the first place prize money. A grand total of 500,000 pokebucks!" The female announcer said, "If I could see your pokedex for a moment, I'll just put in the code for the currency transfer."
Gary handed her his pokedex and she put a small card into the side. It beeped several times then she handed it back to him. He thanked her then left with Ashly.
"Hey Ashly, want a berry?" he asked. She nodded eagerly, so he reached into his backpack and took out a pecha Berry and fed it to her.
"Mmm…so sweet…" He heard her voice say contentedly.
"So what do you think was with those people? They just ganged up and attacked us" he said.
"It might have been rigged by Team Rocket" she suggested, "the two announcers back there did want to know how I was able to do something like that and they wanted to see your pokedex."
Brock shrugged. "I'm sure it was just an attempt to win and split the money between themselves."
That's when Erika walked up the them.
"Oh hey Erika, since Ashly is currently going to have to take time to recover, I can't battle you right now" Gary sighed.
"I wasn't here for you, I was here to award Ashly a gym badge" she said.
Gary looked absolutely shocked that she was awarding a Pokemon a badge instead of the trainer.
"This badge proves you were strong enough to beat my gym. My Pokemon would be no match for your Dialga. As for Gary, here is a badge given to trainers which allows them to get into the league using it. However it counts for nothing else including traded Pokemon listening to you. Next time, try to be as strong as your Pokemon" she said.
Gary went back to the center that night and thankfully the filling for Ashly's diamond was there.
(After a battle royal which could have ended far worse, Ashly has won a gym badge. Gary on the other hand is now even closer to reentering the league. What awaits them after they leave the city? Come back and find out!)