HGSS: Sinnoh Saga

Season 1

Chapter VII: Forced Recognition

The group walked out of the Pokemon Center the next day. Sauntering towards the main road, they witness a battle.

A yellow haired boy in an orange and white striped shirt was standing, red face, ordering his pokemon to use an attack. The boy across from him was standing motionless, waiting for the pokemon to attack.

"Hey, is that Barry?" Dawn asked as they approached.

"Go! Starly, use Wing Attack!" The boy called to a small gray and black bird. The pokemon's wings glowed and it shot forward.

"Exeggutor, Barrage!" The other boy called back. A large brown pokemon with three heads released a big black ball from one of its mouths. It exploded on top of Starly and the pokemon fell to the ground.

"No! Starly!" Barry recalls his pokemon. He stomps his feet on the ground, infuriated. "Argh!"

"Cool down about it!" The brown haired boy retorted. "It was just a battle that you shouldn't have asked for..."

"Hey, what's up?" Ethan asks, walking up to Barry.

"Eh? Oh, I was just losing to this guy..." Barry says through clenched teeth.

Ethan turns to look at the other boy. "You're...Blue!"

The boy smiled at seeing Ethan. "Oh! Ethan! Long time, no see, right?"

"Yeah. Haven't seen you since...Mahogany Town!"

"Yep. I headed back to Kanto, and after a lot of battling at the Gym, I came here for some more relaxation...And found myself in more battling..." Blue says, raising an eyebrow at Barry.

Barry crossed his arms. "It was a fluke...My pokemon are superior to you!"

"Eh...that's a Gym Leader. So, I doubt it..." Jim said, appearing next to Barry on the opposite side. Dawn walked up to Blue.

"So, Blue...Kanto Champion?" Dawn asked.

"Nah. I lost that title a while back. I'm the 8th Gym Leader. Red, my old rival, put me out of my place, so I took over the Gym after Giovanni left."

"I see..." Dawn writes something down on a notepad.

"Ah! Can we forget about him! Ethan, I challenge you to a three-on-three battle, right now!" Barry flusters, pointing his finger at Ethan's face.

"Well...First, you aren't really in the position to be battling...and I only have two pokemon," Ethan replies, backing away as to not get jabbed.

"Ha! I guess I am better than you if I've already capture three pokemon!"

"Not really, it just means you've been busier and-" Ethan sweatdrops as he is cut off.

"No! It means I'm TOUGHER than you! I'm not going to fine you, but you need to get a third pokemon and meet me at the Oreburgh Gate! If you're late, I'm fining you double!" Barry trots off with a respected pride.

"Aw, man..." Ethan sighs. "Well, I didn't want to rush my trip, but I guess I have to catch and train a third pokemon..." Ethan says, pulling a desized ball out of his bag.

"You're really going to do this so you can battle Barry?" Jim asked.

Ethan truanted away.

Heading out of Jubilife City, he is in a forest with very light brush and trees. The sun was rather blocked by clouds, making it a comfortable day. Ethan checked through the bushes for any pokemon.

After a while, he came up upon a lake, sighing. On the other side, he could see a large cave.

"I'm guessing that's Oreburgh Gate...and I haven't found anything..." Ethan growls. Aipom sighs on his shoulder.

Ethan looks up and suddenly, he sees a flock of flying pokemon similar in size and color to the one Barry used earlier. They were chirping loudly.

"Those are Starly...Aipom, use Swift!" Aipom jumped off of his head and released a flurry of pouncing stars. They crashed into one and it fell to the grass.

It stood up, a bump on its head and scratches on its wings. It growled, sort of.

"Aipom, let's go! Focus Punch!" Aipom dashed forward, tail lit.

Starly rushed forward, wind piercing around it. As it approached Aipom, it failed with the wind and was smacked in the chin with the punch. It fell to the grass.

"Okay...Go, Pokeball!" Ethan tossed a ball at Starly. It bounced off its head, called it in and fell to the lush ground. After shaking a bit, it finally settled. "Yes!" Ethan picked up the ball. "We caught...a Starly!"

Aipom hopped onto his head and grabbed on, smiling.

"This is the third pokemon to the group...Yay, yay..." Ethan smiles. "Good job, Aipom..."

Later, Ethan walks out of the Pokemon Center, focusing himself. "It won't be hard battling Barry. We won against him once, and we can do it again..."

Dawn and Jim were waiting for him on a bench. Dawn had just taken a sip of tea from a bottle.

"Finally. You're here. So, off to Oreburgh Gate?" She asked, capping the bottle and placing it in a pocket outside her bag.

Ethan nodded.

Jim smiled. "Beating Barry looked so easy last time. I wouldn't hold it to him lightly though, because he may be tougher. It's been a few days since we've seen him..."

"Five days isn't REALLY that long, you know..." Ethan replied, throwing a bottle of water into the air and catching it.

"You never know. He could be just as weak as last time..." Dawn smiled.

Suddenly, Blue walked out of the Pokemon Center.

"Great, glad I caught you guys. I wanted to tail along with you so I could watch your battle with Barry. Rather interesting to me..." He explained.

"All right! Then we're off to Oreburgh Gate."

Further on, Barry was tossing a ball in his hand, leaning up against a rock out front of the cave.

"Where is he! It's been almost twenty minutes..." Barry exclaimed, rolling eyes, exasperated.

As he complains, he notices Ethan and co. on their way, jogging, around the large pond.

"FINALLY!" Barry shouts as the group arrives. Ethan grimaces.

"What's the problem? It only took twenty-"

"Twenty minutes is too long to catch a pokemon! Let's just get started!" Barry replies without waiting for a real answer.

Ethan shrugs. Blue, Jim and Dawn sit in front of the pond, spectating.

"Come on out, Bonsly!" Barry tosses a Great Ball and releases a small bonsai-resembling pokemon. It had tough eyes, and was ready for battle.

"A Bonsly...Interesting! But, Piplup can handle it," Ethan said, throwing his ball into the air, releasing his baby blue colored penguin onto the field.

"Bonsly, Rock Throw!" Bonsly dug its branches into the ground and tossed large rocks at Piplup.

"Piplup, evade them!" Piplup shot forward and flipped and jumped over the rocks coming its way. "Quick, spin with Bubblebeam!" Piplup jumped into the air over the last boulder and span, releasing a tornado of bubbles that crashed down on the Rock-type. Bonsly was thrown back, crashing through a boulder. It fainted in front of Barry.

"One water type attack..." Dawn said out loud.

"You hush!" He shouted, pointing at Dawn. "Come back, Bonsly!" Barry recalled his rock pokemon. "This one will last longer! Come out, Starly!" Barry sent out his bird. It hovered above the field.

"Piplup, return. Starly, let's show them!" Ethan sent out his new bird pokemon.

"Heh, my Starly is FAR superior to yours you know! Starly, Wing Attack!" Barry's Starly darted forward, wings lit.

"Hmm...Starly, use Aerial Ace!" Ethan's Starly zipped towards the other, piercing the air around it. It jabbed into Barry's Starly, and threw it back, rolling roughly across the ground.

"WHAT? YOURS KNOWS AERIAL ACE! That isn't fair..." Barry recalls his fainted pokemon. "This is just a fluke, Ethan! Chimchar, show them how it's done!" Barry sent out his small monkey pokemon. It jumped up and down, excited. "Yeah! That's it, Chimmy! Go, use Fire Spin!" Chimchar breathed in and released a funnel of fire from its mouth.

"Wait! Starly return! Go, Aipom!" All in one move, Ethan recalled his pokemon, and Aipom jumped off of his head. It dodged the attack, and Ethan dove out of the way to avoid the fire. "Aipom...ow...use Swift!" Aipom waved its hand and threw stars at Chimchar.

"Chimchar, Fury Swipes!" Chimchar charged into the stars, and hacked at them one by one with its claws. As it approached the last few, it exploded on him and knocked it back.

"Aipom, go for Focus Punch!" Aipom shot through the stars and flipped, pounding Chimchar into the ground with a powerful punch. Chimchar tried to climb out, but finally fainted in the end, sighing and breathing heavily.

"NO NO! THIS IS ALL WRONG!" Barry recalls his Chimchar and kicks a rock. "...OW!" He grips his foot in a menacing pain. "I will get you, Ethan Goldman...ONE DAY!" He runs off shrieking into the cave.

"Well, he hasn't gotten any stronger!" Dawn yips.