"Man, what's taking him so long?" Trace groaned as he paced around, the group standing in front of a closed gym in Mahogony Town. "We already spent yesterday at the lake so there's nothing more to do here except battle."
"Eevee." His partner agreed when a middle aged woman walking by asked them,
"Hey, just asking, are you all here for a gym battle?"
"Yes." Trace answered.
"Well, the name's Sheila and Pryce every morning goes up the mountain to meditate under a waterfall."
"Under a waterfall?!" Sakura gasped.
"Do you know where we can meet him?" Ash asked.
"Sure, I'll take you folks up the waterfall myself!" Sheila agreed.
"Aw man, how cool is that?!" Elaine smiled.
"Well, no time to waste!" To their shock, Sheila, for a half-aged non-athletic looking woman, ran ahead and already had a sizable head start. "Step on it!"
"Man, what did she have for breakfast?!" Elaine gasped as she and everyone followed Sheila while Team Rocket watched from the corners.
"I just knew that if we waited long enough at the gym, they'd show up." Jessie stated with James agreeing.
"You're right again, Jess."
"Let's tail 'em." Meowth suggested as they all followed their prey.
Meanwhile, Sheila was jumping from large rock to large rock across a wide stream with no problem while the teenagers were struggling to catch up.
"Now that's one energetic woman." Trace gasped while Ash was panting.
"Wait up..."
"Yeah, please slow down." Sakura was huffing and puffing. Elaine was the only one keeping up, but she was still behind so that she wasn't too far ahead from her friends.
"Wow, you guys need to exercise more."
"Yeah, I'm just getting warmed up! Best that you turtles step on the gas!" Sheila laughed.
"But I'm just about out of gas." Ash complained.
"Oh boy. Alright then. Bewear, come out please!" Elaine summoned her Bewear, holding her Stufful.
"Bewear?"
"Hey Bewear, can you support all of us so you can follow that woman?"
"Bewear!" The Strong Arm Pokemon happily agreed as she picked up everyone effortlessly, human and Pokemon alike to their surprise, loaded them all onto her back, and then started to sprint towards Sheila at a much faster pace.
"Stufful!" Her baby cheered from experiencing her momma run in her arms, and the mother looked down at her with joy. They soon caught up to Sheila and the woman was surprised.
"Wow! That's some strong Pokemon to carry the lot of ya!"
"It's a fighting type so she's really strong! And fast enough to keep up with you!" Elaine explained.
"Well that's some fine ingenuity! Not everyone can keep up with such an athletic old bird like me!" Sheila laughed. "Let's go!" And so they continued the run for a good extra ten minutes before stopping. "Whew, I just love a morning run! Well, there he is over yonder!" She pointed towards an old man under a waterfall, meditating. "Hey Pryce, this kid wants to battle ya!" Trace stepped up to the gym leader.
"It's an honor to meet the gym leader of Mahogany Town, Pryce." Opening his eyes, the old man got up and started to dry himself off.
"I see I have another challenger. And you seem to have your Eevee out.
"Yeah, she always sits on my shoulder. We're real good partners."
"Eevee!"
"Seems like you care for your Pokemon a lot. You don't mind if I test your strength, just before battling you proper at the gym, right?"
"Of course."
"In that case, Dewgong, go!" Pryce sent out a white seal looking Pokemon.
"Go, Beedrill!" Trace sent out his Poison Bee Pokemon.
"Huh? Why would he send out a bug type against an ice type?" Sakura wondered.
"Well, he's just testing me out. Well so am I." Trace told her. "Beedrill, use Brick Break!" With a glowing white stinger, Beedrill flew as fast as a Ribombee and stung like a Beedrill as it stabbed into Dewgong before it could react, yelling from the pain.
"Counter with Ice Beam!" Shooting energy from its horn, the Sea Lion Pokemon pushed the bug/poison type away as it became frozen solid.
"Whoa, down in one hit." Trace sweated a bit.
"Dewgong, return." Pryce withdrew his Pokemon as he said, "Giving your Beedrill Brick Break to be able to fight against different types of Pokemon its weak against is smart, but it appears that your Pokemon need a little more discipline if you want to beat me. Still, I accept your challenge. Come with me." As they followed the gym leader through the forest, eventually reaching a chasm to trail with, Team Rocket jumped out of the bushes dressed like poachers.
"Haha, now see this! Prepare for trouble!"
"And make it double!"
"To protect the world from woodland pests!"
"To capture creatures from their nests!"
"To ensnare Pikachu in my net!"
"And anything else we can get!"
"Jessie!"
"James!"
"Team Rocket grabs the Pokemon at the speed of light!"
"Surrender to me, give up trying to flee or we'll fight!"
"Meowth, that's right!"
"You'll never get my Pikachu!" Ash denied. "Pikachu, use Electro Ball!"
"Pikachu!" She did as told as she jumped off his shoulder, forming a yellow orb of electricity at the end of her tail, and threw it at Team Rocket's feet, both creating a smoke screen of dust while also propelling them screaming at a boulder.
"Come on Pikachu!" Ash and the others ran off, with Pryce trying to follow.
"Wait, you don't know your way around the place!" He warned as the teens found they were trapped by a dead end of said chasm.
"Hahaha! Nowhere to run!" Jessie laughed.
"Just give it up!" James chuckled.
"Now hand over your Pikachu and we'll be on our way!" Meowth demanded.
"Hold it! What kind of idiots would forcibly steal Pokemon!" Pryce called them out. "Especially when Team Rocket was disbanded so long ago!"
"Team Rocket may be disbanded for the most part, but so long as there's Pokemon to be be stolen and profited of, Team Rocket will never die and denounce the evils of truth and love!" Jessie told the gym leader smugly.
"Yes, it doesn't matter how many of us there are!" James agreed. "So long as even one remains, we will extend our reach to the stars above! Now, Cacturn, use Pin Missle!" Sending out his Scarecrow Pokemon, its many spikes turned white as it launched them forward towards the teens and Pryce, exploding all around them. Due to this, part of the chasm collapsed from the sudden force as Ash, Pikachu and Pryce fell down the deep crevice in the ground, yelling from the accident.
"Ash!" All his friends cried out for him as they saw their friend disappear into the black abyss. Ash was quick to react though when he brought out two Pokemon.
"Staraptor, Kirlia, go!" Ash sent out his two Pokemon, whom came out while looking surprised by their predicament. "Staraptor, save Pryce! Kirlia, save us with Psychic!" Both Pokemon did as requested as the Predator Pokemon caught the gym leader by his shirt while Kirlia's eyes glowed blue so that Ash and Pikachu gained a blue outline, so that they floated down safely. "Whew, thanks Kirlia."
"Kirlia." She smiled. Up above, Ash's friends became enraged at losing their friend to Team Rocket.
"You'll pay for that! Bewear, use Ice Punch!" Sending out her Strong Arm Pokemon again, Bewear set her baby down so that she ran towards Cacturn with a shrill shriek, her right fist glowing ice blue so that she punched the grass/dark type so hard, it was sent flying into James, and the two painfully crashed against a tree.
"Ow! Caught between a Cacturn and a hard place! Not a good place to be in!"
"We need to retreat!" Jessie yelped as she ran in a different direction.
"Ahhhh... gotta blast!" Meowth went somewhere else to evade being attacked.
"Hey, come back here!" Elaine chased after Jessie while Sheila, Sakura and Trace looked down the chasm.
"Hey Ash?! Pikachu?!" Sakura called down the abyss.
"You guys okay down there?!" Trace asked as well.
"Hey Pryce?!" She called down too, but the distance was too great. "Phew, that sure must've been one nasty drop.
"We've got to help them, but how do we get down there?" Sakura wondered with worry.
"There's a small gully we can use to climb down." The woman pointed in a direction. Down below, Pryce dusted himself off as he said,
"Ash, was it? I'd like to thank you for saving me there. You surprisingly reacted well in a truly stressful situation."
"Well, it's not the first time I've been caught in a stressful situation. Team Rocket up there gives us plenty of trouble. They want to take my Pikachu because she's much more powerful than your typical Pikachu."
"Hmph, that Team Rocket. What are they doing wasting their lives pursuing the goal of an evil organization that's been long dead?"
"I don't know. The best we can do is just fend them off whenever they appear. So, is there a way to get out of here? A trail back up?"
"I've only been down here once before." The gym leader answered. "But I still know the way. Let's go down this tunnel." Going through the tunnel, they trekked through the dark and ice cold underground cavern, so cold that everything was covered in ice. Entering a chamber within the cavern, the light until from the open air chasm gave the ice covered rocks a shiny crystal look, impressing the two. Pryce walked to a specific spot in the chamber, pieces of ice that were broken off in a way that looked like something was there. Pryce sighed in a bittersweet way. "Ash, let me tell you a story. For a time, I was cold bitter, due to my Piloswine running off after a bad battle where both of us got burned. It never came back. Then a particular trainer came around. The future champion of Johto, Ethan Kaneko and his Typhosion. Not only did he save a red Gyarados and stopped Team Rocket which had a secret base underneath Mahogany Town, he even helped me find my long lost Piloswine, trapped in the ice of this place. Even to that day, it still had herbs in its mouth that would've healed our burns so long ago. Ethan melted my Piloswine out, and warmed my heart back to the way it was again. I'm forever grateful for Champion Ethan."
"He sure sounds like a great guy. Not just for dismantling Team Rocket before they could come back, but for helping the people he's around personally." Ash grinned. "I'd like to meet and battle him someday.
"It sure would be interesting."
"There you are!" Elaine caught up to Jessie, whom was panting from all the running she was doing.
"Sheesh, doesn't a twerp like you ever know when to give up?!"
"Not when you guys send my boyfriend down a chasm! Now I'm going to teach you a lesson!"
"Bewear!" Her Pokemon agreed as she pounded one of her paws against the next, with her Stufful nodding her head on her own mother's head.
"Stufful!"
"If I can't flee, then I'll just have to beat you! Arbok, go!" Sending out her Cobra Pokemon, she demanded, use Sludge Wave!" Spewing out a wave of brown sludge, Elaine countered with her own move.
"Bewear, use Zen Headbutt!" Placing her baby down, Bewear's head glowed blue as she charged, effortlessly plowing through the sludge as she rammed into into the poison type hard, causing it to hiss as it crashed into the ground.
"Get up Arbok! Use Poison Jab!" Jessie demanded. Slithering up, the snake's tail glowed purple as it attacked and stung Bewear's chest, causing her discomfort.
"Grab the tail and give it another Zen Headbutt!" Grabbing the extended tail, the normal/fighting type gave it another bash with her head as she downed the snake for good this time.
"Grr, Arbok, return! Seviper, Poison Tail!" Recognizing the similar poison typed snake, Elaine commanded,
"Counter with Double Edge!" Running forward at full speed while screaming and glowing with a white aura, the Strong Arm Pokemon slammed into the glowing purple tail of the Poison Fang Pokemon, delivering such power that it easily overwhelmed the snake as it was sent flying back, colliding with a tree and fainting in one hit. Bewear winced as she took a knee from the recoil.
"No way! Seviper, return! You're not getting away with this! Dustox, use Psychic!" Summoning her Poison Moth Pokemon, said Pokemon's eyes glowed red, making Bewear gain a blue outline as she shrieked from the pain of being hit with a super effective move.
"Come on Bewear, you can do this! Ice Punch!" Despite being slowed down by Psychic, the mama bear was still able to walk towards the bug/poison type, just slower and much more effort.
"How can a Bewear be so strong?!" Jessie gasped as the Strong Arm Pokemon punched Dustox, inflicting not just pain as it yelled its name, but even partially froze. "No! Dustox, return!" As Jessie growled from losing three Pokemon to just one, she smirked. "You may have beaten most of my team, but even your super strong Bewear can't beat this! Yanmega, go!" Sending out a dark green dragon fly, she ordered, "Use Air Slash!" With its vibrating wings glowing white, it shot multiple blades of energy, which the normal/fighting type had to defend against as she attacks, grunting in pain as she blocked the super effective move.
"Bewear, Ice Punch!" Once the incoming Air Slash stopped, she screamed her name as her fist glowed again with bright blue, but Yanmega glowed with a green aura as it evaded the attack effortlessly, surprising Elaine.
"Speed Boost is quite good, isn't it? Now, use Bug Buzz!" Vibarating its wings to send out red shock waves through the air, Bewear shrieked as she held her ears closed.
"Stufful!" Her baby cried out for her mom, and Elaine looked down at her with a worried look. But none of her Pokemon could keep up with a Speed Boosted Yanmega. If she could have Bewear at least throw a rock super fast at it, it would fall, but Yanmega was more likely to take her down first considering how much Psychic and Air Slash hurt her. But then an idea came to mind.
"Bewear, jump up into the air!" With her last bit of strength, the Strong Arm Pokemon jumped up super high, confusing Jessie.
"What are you planning?"
"Something out of the box. Use Double Edge!" Elaine ordered with a grin. Once Bewear stopped going up and started going back down, it glowed white as it streaked down like a screaming comet.
"Air Slash!" Creating more energy blades, the Ogre Darner Pokemon attacked the falling Bewear and while they did hit her, Bewear had to much momentum to stop as she crashed into the ground with such force, rocks flew into the air, smacking into the bug/flying type hard enough that it fainted and buzzed with defeat, falling to the ground as well. "Not again!" The woman growled.
"Stufful!" Stufful ran towards her mother in the middle of the crater, and worriedly snuggled with her.
"Be...wear." She reassured her baby as she hugged her close on her side.
"Bewear, return." Elaine finally returned her Pokemon with relief that the two would be together as they rested now. "You did amazing Bewear. You're so strong."
"Grr, don't think that now that I'm down to my last Pokemon I'll give up! Gourgeist, go!" An extra large Pumpkin Pokemon appeared, giving off a chilling cry.
"Hmm." Elaine pondered which Pokemon to do next when she decided. "Clefable, let's finish this."
"Clefable!" Her Pokemon by her side agreed as she ran onto the field.
"Use Seed Bomb!" Shooting off a barrage of seeds from her mouth, Elaine calmly countered with,
"Defend with Psychic." With her eyes glowing blue, Clefable pushed the seeds away so that they exploded away from her and Elaine.
"Grr, alright then, use Shadow Claw!" Jumping towards the Fairy Pokemon with one of her appendages growing a ghostly aura, she tried to attack, but was too slow when Elaine then said,
"Flamethrower!" Spewing out a stream of fire, Gourgeist howled painfully as she was pushed back into Jessie while the move created an explosion, sending Jessie flying.
"Looks like I'm blasting off agaaaaaain!" Jessie screamed as she flew into the sky, leaving a twinkle in the sky. Elaine took another sigh, growing happy as she walked to Clefable, petting her head. "Thanks Clefable. You did great."
"Clefable!" She smiled and hugged her trainer.
"Now, let's go find the others. I hope Ash is okay. Altaria, go!" Summoning her flying type, she hopped on and flew over the forest until she could see where the others were, and touched down in the chasm. "Hey guys! Ash!" She ran to her boyfriend, hugging him tight. "Are you okay?!"
"I'm okay Elaine." Ash chuckled. "Staraptor and Kirlia helped us not die. It took us a bit to get out, but it wasn't too bad. Just cold."
"Thank goodness." Elaine then kissed Ash, which he returned in kind.
"So, can we have our WCS battle now that everything's done with?" Trace asked the gym leader.
"Sure. Just let me prepare first and then we'll have that battle."
"Deal."
The teens were impressed with the gym on the inside. The field was made with ice which had chunks sticking up out of the floor, except for a cold pool in the middle.
"It's like Candice and Crasher Wake's gym combined into two!" Sakura gasped.
"Yeah. I'm sure going to have to get used to this particular field." Trace nodded. "What do you think Eevee?"
"Eevee!" She nodded with determination, making him smile. 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 Pryce Herbert from the Mahogany Town gym vs Trace Keen 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!"
"Go, Cloyster!" Pryce sent out his Bivalve Pokemon to splash into the pool.
"Let's go Eevee!" Trace let his starter Pokemon jump onto the field.
"Eevee!"
"I thought you'd use your Eevee. You'd better be careful Trace."
"Don't worry about me. Eevee, use Swift!" Trace ordered. She jumped up and swished her tail to produce a barrage of stars.
"Use Protect!" Clamping its shell shut, a green force field appeared which blocked every star with no problem. "Now use Ice Beam!" Once the attack and Protect ended, Cloyster opened its shell so that its horn shot out a beam of blue energy, which hit Eevee, pushing her back into an ice chunk. "Now use Hydro Pump!" Spewing out a torrent of water, it seemed like it would hit twice in a row when Trace requested,
"Dodge with Dig!" Breaking the ice apart to dig into the ice, she managed to evade the Hydro Pump. "Now use Shadow Ball!" Bursting from the ice, the normal type Pokemon formed a black ball and threw it at Cloyster, whom tried to hide in its shell, but the explosion from Shadow Ball did a good amount of damage as it was sent flying into the air from the pool.
"No, Cloyster!"
"Swift!" Swishing her tail again to produce more stars, they hit Cloyster dead on as it smashed into an ice chunk. Falling to its side, the Bivalve Pokemon opened its shell, showing it was defeated.
"You did great Eevee!" Trace complimented his Pokemon.
"Eevee!"
"Cloyster, return. You did your best, so rest now. Let's move on then! Mamoswine, go!" Trace gulped at seeing the massive Twin Tusk Pokemon appear, but he was confident he'd still win this.
"Eevee, use Swift!"
"Counter with Stone Edge!" Both Pokemon attacked at about the same time as the two attacks clashed in the middle of the field, creating an explosion. "Now use Hail!" Roaring while glowing with power, clouds formed over the battle field, which started to let pieces of hail the size of golf balls fall onto the field, while hurting Eevee.
"Dang, it's harder to see Pryce and Mamoswine." Trace grunted. "Still, Swift should still hit it. Swift, once more!" Swishing her tail to make even more stars, they flew through the hail, and given the pained roar of the ground/ice type, it sounded like it hurt.
"Use Giga Impact!" Heavy footsteps could be felt as something big was coming, and before they knew it, a large purple ball with orange streaks rammed into Eevee, making her scream in pain as she was smashed through three ice chunks on the field until she was thrown off the battle field. Even with enhanced defense and the Eviolite, she took a lot of damage from the move and ice as she smacked and fell to the ground, severely hurt.
"Eevee, return!" Trace worriedly withdrew his Pokemon. "Phew, sorry about that Eevee. Guess we can't hold back. Let's go, Corviknight!" Sending out his Raven Pokemon, he took advantage of Mamoswine's cool down from Giga Impact. "Use Iron Head!" Flying straight at the Twin Tusk Pokemon, while glowing with white and black energy, it slammed hard into the ice/ground type's side, causing it to shout from the discomfort.
"Stone Edge!" Using the hail on the ground to roll on them and move swiftly, it created small white orbs of energy which became rocks, and shot them at the flying/steel type, but Trace commanded,
"Counter with Iron Defense!" Crossing his wings in front of itself, its wings glowed with a grey metallic sheen. The rocks hit against the wings, but they did little as they broke and bounced off the wings. "Now use Body Press!"
"Counter with Ice Fang!" Mamoswine's tusks glowed blue as it fired zigzags of chilling energy, which hit Corviknight and partially froze his wings, but the Raven Pokemon was too durable to let this bother him as he slammed into the Twin Tusk Pokemon was so much power, Mamoswine was pushed onto its side, and with one final roar, it fainted from damage it took.
"As a result of today's battle, there has been a change in the WCS rankings effective immediately!" The Rotom Drone announced.
"Whoo, way to go Trace!" Elaine congratulated her friend. Sakura agreed.
"Yeah, you made it into Great Class now!"
"Wow, that's great!" Ash laughed.
"Congratulations Trace." Pryce said as he walked across the field as Hail was ending. "Not only are you now in Great Class, this means each battle you go through now will be three on three match ups. You may have been taking it easy throughout Normal Class, but the training wheels are off."
"That's fine by me. Thank you." Trace nodded as he checked his Rotom Phone. "Nice, I'm now Rank 921. Let's see. The next gym leader is... Winona Kazama in Fortree City of Hoenn. Hmmm.
A/N: Alright. Now we're in Great Class. I decided to make them three on three because by this point, almost all the gym leaders that have only two Pokemon in their initial battles in the games have been beaten by this point and I don't want to short hand all the gym leaders that have three or more. So... Winona. Once again I have one third of a mind on who to pick. Which trainer do you think would be the most interesting to battle her; Ash, Trace or Elaine? Review down below please if you like.