Disclaimer: I do not own pokemon and am in no way affiliated with Nintendo or Gamefreak, or other companies that write or produce pokemon. Now that that legal stuff is out of the way, on to the story!

Pokemon Legends: Kanto Saga

Chapter Twenty Six

Rina Vs. The Dojo!

"I'm here to challenge the...EH?!" Rina stared in shock when she got her first look at the competition in the gym. Five trainers in total, all of whom were towering, muscular men in white karate gi's. Four of them were spread out across the gym and had been sparring with each other until Rina had announced her prescence.

"Ok...relax..." Rina thought to herself. "Its their pokemon I'll be fighting, not them..."

"Yes?" An older man at the far end of the gym spoke up, waiting for Rina to continue. Ashley, meanwhile, entered the gym with Bulbasaur and walked over to the side to sit down at the bench.

"Well I...uh..." Rina took a deep breath and summoned all her courage. "I want to challenge this gym!"

"Very well." The gym's leader replied, nodding to her. "If that is what you wish, then you will first have to battle my four trainees in one on one matches. If you manage to beat each of them, I will then face you in a double battle match."

"Got it!" Rina nodded enthusiastically. "I wonder if I'll get anything out of this. It doesn't feel right to challenge them for a badge if I won't be using it, but I guess winning here would make my pokemon happy anyway."

Rina approached the gym's battlefield, which had nothing but a red marking on the gym's wooden floor to signify where it started and ended. The four fighters that had been training moved off to the far end of the gym, standing in front of their leader, and one of them stood opposite Rina to be her first opponent. Meanwhile, Red had finally caught up with them and entered the gym.

"Red? I thought you were leaving?" Ashley asked him. She was the first to notice him enter, though Rina quickly turned around to see him standing behind her as well.

"I overheard Rina and decided to come by and watch." Red explained.

"-Pippi! Do your best!-" Pikachu, still out of her pokeball, said to Pippi and gave her a thumbs up.

"-Hehe! You bet I will!-" Pippi replied.

"Oh...well...umm...thanks..." Rina quickly turned her back to Red again when she felt her cheeks getting warm. Red and Pikachu then went over to the bench to sit next to Ashley.

"I can't afford to lose now! Not with Red watching me! I can't let the pressure get to me!" Rina thought. She looked down at Pippi and nodded. "Ok! Pippi, you can take the first one!"

"-I can't wait!-" Pippi ran out onto the field, looking particularly eager for a fight.

"I, HITOSHI, AM YOUR OPPONENT!" The fighter called out to Rina. He took a single pokeball from his black belt in an exaggerated movement. "PRIMEAPE!" Hitoshi released his pokemon as he called out its name. A Primeape appeared on the gym floor in front of him, giving a loud cry and flexing its muscles.

"This guy has no indoor voice..." Rina thought.

"So what made you decide to come here anyway, Red?" Ashley asked with a sly grin. "Did Rina manage to get through that shell of your's?"

"I wanted to see her battle, thats all." Red replied with a light shrug. "So don't look too far into it."

"Its hard not to, since I can't remember the last time you showed interest in anything besides pokemon."

"You're right, and there's absolutely no pokemon involved in a pokemon battle." Red said to her in his usual deadpan tone.

"Hmph. You win this round..." Ashley muttered to herself. "Still, I don't recall him being at all interested in my battle against Misty, and staying to watch my match against Sabrina was an excuse. Either you've changed, or there's a reason you're interested in Rina..."

"-You know, I'm getting awfully used to getting this kind of view of a gym battle.-" Bulbasaur muttered. "-I know I can't expect to battle for Rina, but do I REALLY need to be here to watch this?-"

"-My, you're an awfully grumpy Bulbasaur. Not like Red's at all.-" Pikachu said to him.

"-I don't have to impress you.-" Bulbasaur replied.

"His pokemon is definitely strong." Rina thought, examining the opponent's Primeape. "But...I think Pippi could still take at least one hit from this guy if she has to. So we'll weaken it to start!"

"PRIMEAPE, BRICK BREAK!" Hitoshi called out, yelling in an unecessarily loud voice. Primeape took off charging toward Pippi, raising a fist in the air to attack.

"Pippi, slow it down with Thunder Wave!" Pippi fired a pulse of electricity at the charging Primeape. The electricity passed through Primeape's body, inflicting paralysis. Primeape nearly stumbled when the paralysis set in but continued to charge on, eventually bringing its fist down on top of Pippi's head. Pippi cried out in pain and staggered back a few steps.

"NOW! SEISMIC TOSS!"

"Pippi, evade with Double Team!"

Primeape reached out to grab Pippi, but she disappeared as soon as it tried. It then noticed several more images of Pippi were surrounding it on all sides. Pippi was able to successfully use Double Team before Primeape could touch her, and Primeape hadn't noticed until it had tried to attack.

"Ok! Primeape's open! Use Thunderbolt!" The remaining images of Pippi all gathered electricity around their cheeks and then fired out a bolt of lightning. The images then disappeared, with the only real bolt coming at Primeape from behind. Primeape screeched in agony as the electricity passed through it. Primeape was seething with rage when the attack was over and quickly turned to face Pippi.

"PRIMEAPE! STRIKE NOW! BRICK BREAK!" Primeape slowly raised its fist back and lunged toward Pippi. Pippi quickly jumped straight up into the air just in time for Primeape to strike the ground where she had been standing instead.

"Pippi, use Slam now!" Pippi flipped around in the air as she came back down toward Primeape, whacking him in the head with her tail. Primeape staggered back and Pippi bounced off him to land a few feet away.

"PRIMEAPE, SEISMIC TOSS!" Primeape took a step toward Pippi and reached out to grab her, but paralysis set in and Primeape was sent plummeting to the floor.

"Ok! Now's our chance!" Rina called out. "Pippi, use Quick Attack and distance yourself from Primeape!"

"-I think I know where you're going with this!-" Pippi nodded quickly and then shot past the paralyzed Primeape in a blur of movement. She came to a stop about a dozen feet away but then shot off with another Quick Attack, putting her at the edge of the gym. She then turned around to face Primeape as it was getting back up and doing the same.

"PRIMEAPE! DON'T LET IT ATTACK! BRICK BREAK!" Primeape slammed its fists together in a dramatic display of strength, then raised one fist above its head and charged toward Pippi.

"Does he really have to yell so much?" Rina thought with a grimace. "Pippi, finish it now! Volt Tackle!"

"-I was waiting for those words!-" Pippi said with a grin. Sparks were already billowing from her cheeks as she prepared to attack. Electricity gathered around her body and then she took off running on a collision course with Primeape.

As the two pokemon approached each other, Pippi jumped up at the last second to avoid Primeape's fist. She connected with Primeape's face, releasing a shockwave upon impact that knocked both pokemon to the ground. Pippi quickly got back up, though appearing to be in a bit of pain. Primeape, on the other hand, struggled for a moment and then collapsed onto its back. The first match was over and Rina had won.

"Alright! We did it!" Rina cheered.

"-Mom! Mom! Did you see? Did you?!-" Pippi called out, waving her arms excitedly.

"-Of course I did!-" She called back. "-You've gotten a lot stronger since you went with Rina.-"

"Not bad...she might not be challenging the league, but she's no slouch." Red commented.

"Hehe, I actually have a pretty good view here from the sidelines!" Ashley lowered her camera and held up her newly printed picture. To her dismay, it was nothing but white. "Gah!"

Red glanced over at the picture Ashley took and smirked to himself. "You should have known better than to try to take a picture during Pippi's Volt Tackle."

"It seemed like such a perfect opportunity too..." Ashley sighed and held up her camera to take another quick picture of Pippi and Primeape. "I can at least get a picture of Pippi's win then, even if just to have..." Ashley had snapped the picture just in time as Primeape's trainer recalled it right after. Hitoshi bowed respectfully and moved aside.

"Well done. You move on to the next round." The leader gave a gesture, and another trainer moved to challenge Rina.

"I, Hideki, will be your next opponent." The trainer said to Rina and gave a bow.

"Well at least he doesn't yell." Rina thought, breathing a sigh of relief. "Ok, Pippi, you can sit this one out now." Pippi nodded and ran over to the bench where everyone else was sitting and cuddled up with her mother. Rina then took a pokeball from her belt to call out another pokemon.

"Miss Esp, your turn now! Go!" Rina called out, releasing her Espeon from her pokeball. A red beam shot out of the pokeball and materialized into Espeon.

Hideki then reached for his only pokeball as well, his face hardening into a more serious expression. "MACHAMP!" He yelled out as he drew the pokeball. "GO!" The pokeball opened in his hand, releasing the four armed fighting pokemon Machamp.

"So much for not screaming..." Rina said in dismay.

"-I've noticed you seem to like your Volt Tackle technique.-" Pippi's mother noted.

"-Of course! Its my best attack, I even took down a legendary pokemon with it!-" Pippi boasted.

"-Don't get too attached to it.-" Her mother cautioned her. "-Sometimes your strongest technique isn't necessarily the best.-"

"Ok, since Miss Esp has the advantage here, I can probably risk trying to set up Calm Mind." Rina thought to herself. "Miss Esp, use Calm Mind!" Miss Esp closed her eyes and focused, clearing her mind and increasing her mental capabilities.

"MACHAMP! LIGHT SCREEN, SET UP!" Machamp thrust its four arms out in front of it and a yellow light surrounded its body in the form of a barrier. The technique was similar to Reflect, however it filtered special attacks instead of physical.

"Light Screen? I didn't expect that from a fighting pokemon!" Rina thought in surprise. "But if we use Calm Mind again, that should make up for it."

"Miss Esp, use Calm Mind again!" Rina called out.

"-I am not sure this is a wise decision, but very well.-" Miss Esp kept her eyes closed and continued to focus. She found it difficult to keep her mind clear as she felt uneasy about Rina's decision.

"MACHAMP! ATTACK WITH RETURN!" Machamp wasted no time, quickly charging across the gym toward Miss Esp. It then launched a full attack with all four, punching Miss Esp repeatedly with several light blows. Machamp followed up its flurry of punches with a kick, nearly knocking her into Rina.

"Miss Esp! Are you ok!?" Rina asked worriedly.

"-I...am fine...-" Miss Esp replied weakly as she slowly rose back onto her feet. "-We must be cautious with this one...it seems to be prepared for combat with psychic pokemon.-"

"Right." Rina nodded in agreement. She watched her opponent, waiting for him to make the next move.

"MACHAMP, SEISMIC TOSS NOW!"

"Miss Esp, Quick Attack!"

Machamp took several steps toward Miss Esp and then reached out to grab her with its four arms. By the time Machamp reached her, though, she had already moved out of the way. Using Quick Attack, Miss Esp shot past Machamp in a blur of movement and came to a stop behind it.

"Ok, now lets use Wish!" Rina called out. Miss Esp focused and quietly uttered something to herself, initiating a Wish technique to restore herself.

"MACHAMP, AGAIN WITH RETURN!" Machamp turned around and quickly closed the gap between itself and Miss Esp, then unleased a flurry of attacks at the psychic pokemon. After another round of rapid punches, Miss Esp is flung back and hits the floor hard. It takes her a moment to gather herself up again, barely hanging on after Machamp's attack.

"NOW! FINISHING TECHNIQUE! VITAL THROW!" Machamp nodded and then watched Miss Esp intently, waiting for an opportunity to attack.

"Need to stall it a few more seconds so Wish will take effect..." Rina thought to herself. "Miss Esp, move past Machamp with Quick Attack!"

Miss Esp quickly got back on her feet and then shot toward the waiting Machamp, managing to slide between its legs. Machamp wasn't fooled for long, though. With its lower pair of arms it reached back and grabbed onto Espeon's tail. Machamp pulled Miss Esp over its shoulder, slamming her into the floor in front of it.

Despite its successful attack, Miss Esp quickly got up and shook it off, actually looking better off than she had before Machamp threw her. While Machamp was in the process of throwing her, Wish activated and restored her health. Miss Esp was still looking a bit tired, but much better than she had been previously. With Miss Esp ready to continue the battle, a pink aura shimmered around Machamp and then faded. Its Light Screen had worn off.

"Miss Esp, now's your chance!" Rina called out. "Attack with Psybeam!" Miss Esp raised her head so the red gem on her forehead was aimed at Machamp's face, then fired a beam of psychic energy from her gem. Machamp tried to shield its face with its hands, but was too slow. The psychic energy blasted Machamp. The fighting pokemon grunted and staggered back, soon losing its balance and falling to the floor.

"MACHAMP, DO NOT FALL SO EASILY!" Machamp got up and raised one of its fists back, getting ready to strike Miss Esp despite being nowhere near her. It then suddenly punched itself in the face and fell down again. Miss Esp's attack had left Machamp confused, causing it to hurt itself instead.

"Ok, Miss Esp! Once more! Psybeam!" Miss Esp fired off a second Psybeam attack at Machamp while it was still on the floor. Another blast to the face knocked Machamp flat out. Machamp didn't move at all after or even make an attempt to get back up. The battle was clearly over. Hideki held out his pokeball and recalled Machamp.

"You are more skilled than I. This match is your's." Hideki bowed to Rina and then stepped back from the battlefield while another trainer took his place.

"He suddenly goes from quiet, to yelling, to quiet again?" Rina thought. "I don't get these guys at all..."

"I managed to get that picture at least, but the end of that match wasn't nearly as climatic." Ashley sighed and took her newly printed picture in hand. The picture showed Miss Esp's last Psybeam attack hitting Machamp. Though it appeared multicolored when the attack was used, the beam appeared entirely white on camera.

"These attacks keep messing up my pictures." She mumbled to herself as she put the picture away.

"I think I can see how Rina battles now." Red noted, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "With both Pippi and Miss Esp, she had a clearly defensive style." Red nodded slightly. "Yeah, knowing her she probably thinks her pokemon are better off this way when it actually amounts to taking more hits in the end."

"Now that you mention it, she does have a tendency to play it safe." Ashley thought. She could recall times when she was training against Rina in which Rina used a defensive strategy.

"Miss Esp, good job! You can rest now." Rina said as she took Miss Esp's pokeball in hand again.

"-Very well.-" Miss Esp nodded. "-Having experienced this battle, I can honestly say you are quite skilled, Rina.-" Rina recalled Miss Esp into her pokeball and then switched for another pokeball from her belt.

"You have done well to make it to have defeated Hitoshi and Hideki." Rina's next opponent said to her. "However, this ends here. I, Mike, shall defeat you."

"Mike? Thats a bit different from the first two..." Ashley thought.

"We'll see about that!" Rina shot back. "Berry, go!" Rina held out her pokeball, pressing the button and releasing her pokemon. Berry the Butterfree appeared hovering several feet in the air, flapping its wings to stay aloft.

"POLIWRATH!" Mike yelled as he took out his pokeball. Like the previous two trainers, it seemed Mike would yell everything during battle as well. Much to Rina's dismay. Mike held out the pokeball in his hand and released Poliwrath, the fighting-type evolution of Poliwhirl. Poliwrath didn't look much different from its pre-evolved form at all, aside from being a bit taller and slightly more buff looking.

"Poliwrath? Is that the evolved form of Poliwhirl or is he just calling it that?" Ashley wondered. She took out her pokedex to confirm it was Poliwhirl's evolved form.

"Do you guys have to yell everything?!" Rina asked Mike.

"A true martial artist must pour out all their spirit into a battle!" Mike replied. "POLIWRATH! BEGIN WITH RAIN DANCE!" Poliwrath shuffled from side to side while waving its arms around. Thunderclouds spread over the battle area and soon a downpour started inside the gym.

"I don't see why that means they have to yell though..." Rina thought. "Anyway! If he's using Rain Dance, then he must be planning to use it for a speed boost like Ashley did when she battled Koga. So I just need to counter by slowing it down instead!"

"Berry, get close and use Stun Spore!" Rina called out.

"-Ok, master!-" Berry replied. She then flew across the gym to get closer to Poliwrath and released a cloud of spores from her wings. Berry was close enough to keep the rain from negating her spore attack completely, allowing enough spores to reach Poliwrath and inflict paralysis on it.

"WE WILL NOT FALL TO YOUR DIRTY TRICKS!" Mike yelled to Rina. "POLIWRATH! HYPNOSIS!"

"Berry, dodge with Double Team!" Berry focused briefly and created several illusionary images of itself. Two images flanked Poliwrath from the sides and three more remained directly in front of it. Poliwrath focused on the middle one and used Hypnosis, but the Butterfree it focused on showed no sign of getting sleepy. The real Berry was hovering to the right side of Poliwrath.

"Now lets put that Poliwrath to sleep!" Berry nodded affirmatively. Even though Rina didn't call out a specific technique, Berry only knew one attack that would do such. She released a green powder straight down onto Poliwrath. Poliwrath closed its eyes and fell over, falling into a deep sleep.

"MORE OF YOUR DIRTY TRICKS?!" Mike yelled angrily. "YOU HAVE NO HONOR!"

"Oh, so its ok for you to put my pokemon to sleep but not ok for me to do it to your's?!" Rina shot back. "Thats called a double standard you know!"

"-Master?- Berry interrupted before a yelling match could start. "-We should attack before it wakes up...-"

"Right, sorry..." Rina replied sheepishly. "Ok! Berry, attack with Psybeam!" Berry nodded and fired a beam of psychic energy from her eyes. The beam was aimed between Poliwrath's eyes, as Berry figured that was the closest thing to a head that it seemed to have. Poliwrath grunted from the blast and slowly started to sit up.

"Waking up already...thats what I get for wasting time." Rina thought to herself. "Berry, confuse it with Supersonic before it can get up again!" Berry let out a high pitched shriek to try to confuse Poliwrath. Poliwrath was completely unaffected though and managed to stand up while Berry was attacking.

"POLIWRATH, USE MIND READER!"

"Berry, attack with Psybeam again!"

Berry took aim at Poliwrath's face again and fired another Psybeam attack from her eyes. She missed her mark slightly, though, hitting the spiral pattern on Poliwrath's chest instead. Poliwrath forced itself to endure the hit and then focused on reading Berry's mind to ensure its next attack would hit.

"NOW! HYPNOSIS!"

"Berry, evade it with Double Team!"

Berry split up into multiple images, surrounding Poliwrath with four duplicates. Poliwrath wasn't fooled for even a second, though. Having already predicted where Berry would hide, Poliwrath took aim at the Butterfree directly behind it and released hypnotic waves while drawing Berry's attention to the swirling spiral on its chest. Berry slowly dropped to the floor and fell fast asleep. The rain finally stopped at that point as well, preventing Poliwrath from taking advantage of it.

"I didn't think Berry would be able to dodge it at that point, but I had to try anyway!" Rina thought.

"NOW YOU WILL PAY FOR YOUR UNDERHANDED TECHNIQUES!" Mike said to Rina in his usual tone. Rina frowned at his accusation. "POLIWRATH, BODY SLAM!" Poliwrath stood over Berry and then made a short hop to slam its weight down on top of her. Berry flinched from the impact but was still asleep.

"These guys are just getting annoying now. Why did I challenge this gym again?" Rina wondered. "Well it seemed like it'd be fun at the time, but with all this yelling and this Mike guy accusing me of using dirty tricks to win..."

"AGAIN! BODY SLAM!" Mike's Poliwrath stood back up so it could attack again. Paralysis suddenly struck it though, causing it to fall away from Berry as its muscles gave out. The paralysis bought time for Berry to recover from the Hypnosis and wake up. She stood up and glanced over at her fallen opponent.

"Berry, attack Poliwrath with Giga Drain!" Berry spread out her wings as she stood over Poliwrath and began drawing energy away from it while Poliwrath was trying to get up. Poliwrath fell back again as a green stream of energy suddenly burst from its body and flowed into Berry. Berry had drained the last of Poliwrath's strength from it, and Poliwrath collapsed as a result.

"This match goes to you it seems." Mike said as he recalled Poliwrath. He seemed more than a little miffed by his loss and quickly stepped aside.

"Well that one came out clear at least, but it doesn't look all that interesting..." Ashley sighed and put another picture away. "Well, still two battles to go! I'm sure I'll get a decent picture yet!"

"-I don't think I've seen her this focused on taking pictures since...ever.-" Bulbasaur said, blinking in disbelief. "-Now if only...-"

"-She would focus on catching more pokemon?-" Pippi said, cutting Bulbasaur off and finishing his sentence for him.

"-I must be starting to sound like a broken record if even you're noticing.-" Bulbasaur grumbled.

"What a grumpy Bulbasaur." Red's Pikachu thought. "Well maybe I'll give him something else to be grumpy about..." Pikachu tugged on Red's sleeve and looked up at him with a determined expression while pointing to Bulbasaur. Red nodded to her, understanding what she was thinking.

"Later." Red whispered to her. Pikachu nodded, accepting Red's response.

"What are those two up to?" Ashley wondered.

"You have done well to make it this far." Another trainer said to Rina as he stepped up to battle. "I, Aaron, am the last trainer you must face before you may challenge our leader."

"So I just need to beat you and then I'm in the clear!" Rina replied with a light smirk. "Berry, good job! You can sit this one out though."

"-Ok, master!-" Berry replied cheerfully. Rina held out her pokeball and recalled her.

"I told you not to call me that..." Rina said quietly. She placed Berry's pokeball back on her belt and took another one in hand. "Ok! Your turn now! Clyde, go!" The pokeball opened up and released Clyde out into the battle area.

"She's using Clyde?!" Ashley exclaimed in disbelief.

"Whats wrong with that?" Red asked her.

"Clyde is at a complete disadvantage here, he's going to get creamed!"

"There's more to pokemon battles than type advantages." Redi said to Ashley. "Just because Rina's at a disadvantage type-wise doesn't mean she'll lose."

"HITMONTOP, GO!" Aaron called out, switching to the loud voice Rina had come to expect from the dojo's trainers. He took his only pokeball in hand and released Hitmontop. The pokemon quickly flipped over to stand on his head when he appeared, precariously balancing on a spike on the top of it.

"HITMONTOP! TRIPLE KICK!"

"Clyde, block with Protect!"

Hitmontop spun like a top as he moved across the gym toward Clyde. Clyde quickly threw up a barrier to block Hitmontop's attack, just barely getting it up in time due to Hitmontop's surprising speed. Hitmontop kicked Clyde's barrier three times while spinning, striking a harder blow against Clyde's barrier with each hit and bouncing back after the third kick. Clyde's barrier held against each attack though.

"Now! Put it to sleep with Sing!" Clyde dropped his barrier and immediately began to sing in a soft, soothing tone. Hitmontop lost his balance as he began to feel drowsy, falling flat on his face and then drifting into a deep sleep.

"Ok, Clyde is at a disadvantage against Hitmontop, so I'll use this time to power up his defense." Rina thought to herself. "Clyde, use Cosmic Power until Hitmontop wakes up!" Clyde focused and began drawing power to himself. A protective purple aura began to wrap around Clyde's body, raising Clyde's defenses. Clyde maintained the aura while Hitmontop slept, continually increasing his defensive capabilities. Hitmontop finally woke up while Clyde was in the middle of using the technique again.

"HITMONTOP! TRIPLE KICK!" Hitmontop quickly sprung back up to balance on its spike-tipped head. He then spun toward Clyde and kicked him three times, bouncing back after the third and strongest kick. Clyde seemed to shrug off each attack with little effort and the aura around him faded when he finished using Cosmic Power again.

"After those defense boosts, Clyde's actually pretty tough!" Rina thought, smiling to herself. "Clyde should be able to shrug off another hit so he can power up one more time."

"Clyde, use Cosmic Power again!"

"TRIPLE KICK! DO NOT LET UP!"

"This style of battle does not suit me..." Clyde thought to himself as he began to focus again. "Though, I am out of my league against a fighting pokemon, so perhaps this is for the best." The purple aura surrounded Clyde again, strengthening the mystical defenses that surrounded him. Hitmontop whacked Clyde with its feet again while spinning around, delivering another three successive hits. Clyde shrugged off each of them with little effort.

"Ok, now I think we're safe to go on the offensive!" Rina thought. "Clyde, attack with Pound!"

"-Now thats more like it!-" Clyde eagerly jumped forward and aimed a punch at Hitmontop's face, hoping to knock it over. Hitmontop grunted from the blow and tilted sharply, but managed to flip back up without falling over.

"HITMONTOP, GET REVENGE!" Hitmontop began spinning around and a dark aura began to surround one of his feet. Hitmontop drew power from a desire to get back at Clyde for hitting him and delivered a powerful kick, sending Clyde flying back and landing at Rina's feet. Clyde didn't stay down for long, but he still looked to be in a fair bit of pain from the powerful blow dealt to him

"NOW! ROLLING KICK ATTACK!"

"Clyde, put it to sleep with Sing again!"

Clyde desperately began to sing a lullaby as Hitmontop spun toward him. With only a few feet left between them, Hitmontop suddenly stopped and flipped over to stand on his feet. This bought Clyde enough time for Sing to take its effect, causing Hitmontop to collapse to the floor in a deep sleep.

"Now heal up with Moonlight until you're back to full strength!" Clyde nodded and closed his eyes as he began drawing in light. He focused the light to provide him with the energy he needed to restore himself. It took long enough for Clyde to heal himself fully for Hitmontop to wake up again and hop back up on its feet.

"HITMONTOP, ROLLING KICK NOW!"

"Clyde, use Metronome!"

Hitmontop made a quick roll toward Clyde, delivering a strong kick as he uncurled his body. Clyde braced himself against the attack and seemed to take little effect from it. He then raised his index finger on each hand and waved them about, initiating his Metronome technique. His body then began to glow as he absorbed light energy.

"-Huh?-" Bulbasaur blinked in disbelief. "-No way! He's using Solar Beam!?-"

"Solar Beam! Great! We can get a good hit in on Hitmontop with that!" Rina thought to herself.

"HITMONTOP! GET BACK AND BRACE WITH DETECT!" Aaron called out. Hitmontop flipped over onto his head and quickly spun away to put some distance between himself and Clyde. A bright beam of energy fired out from Clyde's body toward Hitmontop, but Hitmontop saw the attack coming through Detect and quickly sidestepped it in a blur of movement.

"So much for hitting it with Solar Beam..." Rina thought, wincing. "Clyde, put Hitmontop to sleep again with Sing!" Clyde began singing, and soon Hitmontop collapsed and fell into a deep sleep for the third time in the match.

"Now attack with Pound, then follow it up with Metronome!" Clyde jumped toward Hitmontop and raised his fist back. He then came down hard, striking Hitmontop in the gut and then doing a backflip to jump off.

While standing in front of Hitmontop, Clyde began to wave his fingers around again and activated Metronome. Clyde raised one hand into the air once he was finished. Orange claws, glowing with energy, sprouted from each of his fingers. Clyde used the claws to deliver a powerful slash to the sleeping Hitmontop, after which they disappeared. Hitmontop suddenly snapped awake and hopped back onto his feet.

"I have no idea what that attack was..." Rina thought, scratching the back of her head. She quickly forgot about it to call out another attack. "Clyde! Put it to sleep with Sing again!"

"HITMONTOP, DETECT!" Clyde began to sing again to put Hitmontop to sleep. This time, though, Hitmontop was ready. He used Detect to brace himself against the technique and felt nothing from Clyde's singing as a result.

"NOW! ROLLING KICK!" Hitmontop rolled forward, using the momentum he gained from rolling to spring up into a kick aimed at Clyde's face. Clyde staggered back, but easily shrugged off the hit due to his enhanced defenses.

"Clyde, lets try Metronome one more time!"

"HITMONTOP! WE WILL STRIKE BACK WITH REVENGE!"

Clyde waved his fingers around again as he used Metronome, tricking his mind into using a random technique that it didn't know of. Clyde stopped when electricity suddenly crackled around his body and he charged toward Hitmontop, crashing into him with a Volt Tackle technique. A jolt of electricity sent both pokemon flying after they collided, knocking both of them to the ground. Clyde quickly got back up and was still ready for more, but Hitmontop didn't get back up at all.

"-CLYDE! Get your own special technique! Volt Tackle is mine!-" Pippi whined. Her mother patted her on the head and Clyde turned to give her a sheepish grin.

"-Sorry, I don't exactly get to pick what attack I use.-" Clyde said to her. Ashley took a picture of Clyde while he was facing them, having realized that taking a picture during Volt Tackle was pointless.

"Looks like Rina managed to win afterall, despite that type disdvantage." Red said to Ashley with a smirk. "Quite the one sided battle too. Think you could have done that?"

"Could if I wanted to..." Ashley mumbled in response.

"-Yeah, right.-" Bulbasaur said, snorting derisively. Ashley shot him a glare, but Bulbasaur took no notice.

"Congratulations on your victory." Aaron said to Rina after he recalled Hitmontop. "It is our leader, Koichi, that you must face now." With that, Aaron stepped aside for the dojo's leader to take the stage.

"I did not think a young girl such as yourself would make it this far, I must congratulate you." Koichi said to her. He took a pokeball in each hand. "For the final match, it will be a double battle with two pokemon each. My Hitmonchan and Hitmonlee shall test your capabilities." As he said this, he released his pokemon from each pokeball. Two brown, humanoid pokemon appeared. One looked like a boxer and had red boxing gloves for hands, while the other had particularly long legs.

"Ok then!" Rina nodded. "Clyde, you did great out there, but I'll be using two different pokemon for this match." Clyde nodded to her and allowed her to recall him. Rina returned Clyde's pokeball to her belt and took another one in each hand.

"I already know exactly which pokemon to use in this match!" Rina declared as she held up both pokeballs. "Sarge! Ebil! Go!" The two pokeballs opened up and released their respective pokemon out onto the floor. Sarge the Sandshrew and Ebil the Ekans appeared standing side-by-side and both looked shocked when they noticed the other standing next to them.

"-I am to battle alongside YOU?! I refuse!-" Ebil hissed and turned away defiantly.

"-Fine by me, snake, I especially don't need your help to win this battle.-" Sarge said to him and took several steps forward to distance himself.

"Rina what are you thinking sending those two out?!" Ashley yelled at her.

"Even I can tell they don't get along, and this is the first time I've seen those two." Red added solemnly. "Rina...I hope you know what you're doing."

"Relax! I know exactly what I'm doing!" Rina assured them.

"HITMONCHAN, DEFEND HITMONLEE! HITMONLEE, MEDITATE!" Koichi called out, his voice managing to surpass the previous four trainers. Hitmonchan moved out in front of Hitmonlee while Hitmonlee began meditating to increase his attack.

"This guy is even louder than the other trainers!" Rina thought in dismay. "Ebil, attack Hitmonchan with Poison Fang! Sarge, aim for Hitmonlee with Swift!"

Ebil didn't move an inch, refusing to attack alongside Sarge. Sarge didn't hesitate for a moment, though. Making a swipe at the air with his claws, Sarge fired several star-shaped rays. Each ray homed in on Hitmonlee, but Hitmonchan jumped into their path and took the attack instead.

"Ebil! You were supposed to attack!" Rina scolded him.

"-I refuse to work with that arrogant shrew, hsss!-" Ebil spat back defiantly.

"-Who are you calling...-"

"Thats enough, both of you!" Rina said to them, cutting Sarge off. "If you don't work together then that Hitmonlee is going to kick both your butts, and I'm sure you don't want that." Ebil took a moment to consider this. "Now both of you get over there and try to attack that Hitmonlee! Sarge, you roll past and use Slash and Ebil you use Poison Fang!-"

"-Fine, hsss, but I'm still not working with him. He can attack alone.-" Ebil grumbled. He then slithered slowly across the gym to attack Hitmonlee while Sarge was already moving to attack.

"HITMONCHAN! COUNTER THEM BOTH!" Koichi called out. As Sarge tried to roll by, Hitmonchan moved in front of him and knocked him back. Sarge retalliated by slashing Hitmonchan with his claws, but in return Hitmonchan simultaneously punched Sarge in the gut and knocked him back. All the while, Hitmonlee was continuing to power up with Meditate.

Ebil tried to slither by Hitmonchan next and lunged toward Hitmonlee, fangs bared to attack. Ebil ended up biting into Hitmonchan's fist instead, delivering a poisonous bite. Hitmonchan slammed his fist into the floor, smashing Ebil's head and forcing him to let go. Ebil shook it off and backed away, finding himself standing next to Sarge again.

"-Attacking like this won't get us anywhere.-" Sarge said to Ebil.

"-If you are suggesting we co-operate, you can forget it, hss.-" Ebil shot back.

"-No, but if we both attack at the same time the one of us will get through for sure.-" Sarge replied. "-I would never dream of working with you, but I won't lose alongside you either.-"

"-Have it your way, hsss.-"

"Sarge, Ebil, same thing again!" Rina called out. "Slash and Poison Fang, and attack Hitmonlee!"

"HITMONCHAN! COMET PUNCH!" Sarge was again the first to move and tried to attack Hitmonchan instead of Hitmonlee, throwing him off guard. Sarge struck Hitmonchan with his claws, but Hitmonchan responded by throwing a flurry of rapid punches at Sarge. Sarge hopped back out of the way after the fourth punch.

While Hitmonchan was dealing with Sarge, Ebil snuck by him and lunged toward Hitmonlee. This time, Ebil managed to sink his fangs into Hitmonlee's thigh, distracting him briefly while trying to inflict a powerful poison on him. Hitmonlee's body managed to resist the poison, however.

"HITMONLEE, BRICK BREAK THE SNAKE! HITMONCHAN, ICE PUNCH SANDSHREW!"

"Ebil, use Wrap! Sarge, roll out of the way and use Slash!"

Sarge curled up and rolled back, evading Hitmonchan's ice coated fist. Sarge then quickly uncurled and jump up while Hitmonchan was still leaning over from the punch and slashed him across the face. Hitmonchan staggered back and then suddenly collapsed. Hitmonchan had endured far too much punishment while protecting Hitmonlee to continue fighting, forcing Koichi to recall him.

Hitmonlee delivered a swift chop to Ebil's head, holding back a bit due to the way Ebil was latched onto him. Ebil still took a hard hit and was forced to let go, dropping to the floor next to him. Ebil took a moment to shake it off and then jumped back up, wrapping its body around Hitmonlee and pinning his arms to him.

"Ebil, Poison Fang! Sarge, Slash! Attack Hitmonlee at the same time!"

"HITMONLEE, USE ALL YOUR STRENGTH AND BREAK FREE!"

Before Hitmonlee could free itself from Ebil's grasp, Ebil bit into Hitmonlee's shoulder in another effort to poison it. Hitmonlee winced from the bite, but again his body managed to resist the poison. Ebil's bite was then followed up by Sarge raking Hitmonlee across the face with his claws. Hitmonlee couldn't do anything but take the attack and try to endure it.

Hitmonlee finally started pushing out against Ebil with his arms after enduring both of their attacks. Hitmonlee was able to put so much strength into the effort that Ebil was forced to let go almost immediately. He released Hitmonlee from his grasp and dropped to the floor, where he immediately moved next to Sarge.

"DEFEAT THEM BOTH IN ONE HIT EACH! DOUBLE KICK!" Sarge immediately realized they were in trouble when he heard Koichi call out Hitmonlee's next attack. Hitmonlee quickly spun around, aiming his first kick at Ebil. Sarge curled up into a ball and threw himself into the first kick. Hitmonlee's leg stretched, ensuring the hit and kicking Sarge with such force that he was knocked completely out of battle zone and embedded in the side wall of the gym.

"-You idiot!-" Ebil hissed. He barely had time to react, though, as Hitmonlee spun back around to deliver a second kick. Sarge's actions threw Hitmonlee off enough for Ebil to twist his body out of the way. Ebil didn't wait for an order to strike back, though. Even while Hitmonlee was still following through with his kick, Ebil lunged and sunk his fangs into Hitmonlee's crotch.

Every male in the room reflexively winced at Ebil's strike. Though Hitmonlee didn't feel it nearly as much as a human would have in his situation, he still fainted almost immediately. It took Koichi a moment to realize this, as he was shocked by Ebil's sudden decision to attack.

"-What the hell did you do that for?!-" Ebil hissed at Sarge even though he was clearly unconscious. "-I did NOT ask for your help, hsss!-"

"I thought for sure Rina was going to lose that one." Ashley took her recently printed picture in hand and looked it over. It was the second picture she took, the first being when Sarge felled Hitmonchan. The new picture caught Ebil just as he was biting Hitmonlee. "Now THAT is one for the scrapbook!"

"I don't find that the least bit funny..." Red muttered after seeing the picture.

"-I don't get it, so Ebil bit Hitmonlee...whats the big deal?-" Pippi asked, looking to her mother for an explanation. She shrugged, not knowing what was going on either.

"It seems even I have lost. You have earned our badge." Koichi took a deep breath and sighed. "That is what I would like to say, at least, but in truth I can no longer hand out badges after our gym was beat out of the Kanto league by Sabrina's."

"Wait...so the reason you're no longer a gym is because Sabrina beat you guys?" Rina asked, blinking in disbelief.

"That is correct." Koichi replied, nodding solemnly. "There is room for only eight gyms in the league, so we lost our status as an official gym when she came along. Since I cannot offer you a badge, you may take one of our prized fighting pokemon instead..."

Koichi turned to face the rest of his gym's trainers. Two of them had pokeballs in hand and gave them to Koichi. Koichi then crossed the gym and held out the pokeballs to Rina. "The right pokeball contains the piston punching pokemon, Hitmonchan, and the left contains Hitmonlee, the kicking fiend. Choose whichever one you like best."

"Umm...well..." Rina hesitantly looked from one pokeball to the other. She wasn't expecting to get a new pokemon, but after considering her choices for a moment she took the left pokeball.

"A good choice." Koichi said to her once she made her decision. "You seem to have a more defensive fighting style, I believe Hitmonlee will suit you well. May I see your trainer's license?" Rina reached into her pocket and took out her card, then handed it to Koichi. Koichi took out a small device and scanned her card, then did the same to Hitmonlee's pokeball. The pokeball then glowed white and vanished, transporting Hitmonlee to storage.

"Thank you." Rina and Koichi bowed to each other respectfully. Koichi then turned to his students and clapped his hands together.

"Everyone, see to your pokemon and then resume training." He instructed them. The four students bowed to their master and headed into the gym's back room, where a pokemon healing machine would await them.

"-Did we...win?-" Sarge grunted quietly as he came to. He winced as he tried to stand up. "-I can't tell what part of me hurts more...-"

"-We won, no thanks to you.-" Ebil hissed. "-I had to take down that Hitmonlee by myself!-"

"-Heh...well one of us had to survive to deal the final blow.-" Sarge replied, grinning slightly. "-I didn't exactly have time to explain that though...-"

"-I was going to dodge that attack just fine on my own, hsss.-" Ebil said and turned away from him. "-This doesn't change a thing between us, either, hsss! I WILL get you back for continually getting in my way of biting trainers, hsss!-"

"-And I'll beat you every time.-" Sarge shot back. A white glow then surrounded his body as he began to evolve. Ebil took notice of this and glared angrily, but then began to glow as well.

"Whaaa?! I thought Sarge was still knocked out!" Rina said in disbelief as both her pokemon evolved. Ebil's body almost doubled in length and a two foot area below his neck began to widen into a hood. Sarge seemed to grow another foot taller as well, and spikes suddenly shot out of his back. The two pokemon finished their evolutions at the same time. Sarge was now a fully evolved Sandslash, and Ebil was an evolved Arbok.

"And thats another one for the scrapbook!" Ashley declared after taking a picture of the two fully evolved pokemon. "Including the ones that didn't turn out well, that makes eight pictures today! I'm on a roll!"

"Are you two ok?" Rina asked Sarge and Ebil as she approached them.

"-Nothing a trip to the pokecenter won't cure...-" Sarge replied weakly. Even after evolving he was still incredibly weak from being knocked out.

"-I do not need your concern, hsss.-" Ebil also replied.

"Well congratulations to both of you, I'll get you to the pokecenter as soon as I can!" Sarge acknowledge Rina with a nod, but Ebil pretended he didn't care. Rina took a pokeball in each hand and recalled the two.

"Way to go, Rina! You did great out there!" Ashley came up from behind her and ruffled her hair playfully. "And to think you used to doubt you were any good at battling."

"I think she shows more actual skill than you do, Ashley." Red said to them. Ashley quickly shot him a glare, though he gave it little attention. "Rina, you really did handle yourself pretty well out there. I'm glad Pippi found a good trainer to take care of her, and I'm sure Pikachu agrees."

"-Wholeheartedly!-" Pikachu added, giving Rina a thumbs up. "-Just don't let her use Volt Tackle too much.-"

"-Mom!-" Pippi pouted.

"You guys..." Rina blushed from all the praise she was receiving.

"I should probably get going now, but there's one last thing me and Pikachu want to do first." Red looked over at Ashley. "Ashley, Pikachu wants to challenge your Bulbasaur to a battle."

"-Huh?-" Bulbasaur blinked in disbelief and glanced over at Pikachu curiously. "-You coulda at least said something you know.-"

"Fine by me!" Ashley replied with a smirk. "Its about time I had a chance to battle one of your pokemon!"

"Alright, lets take this outside then."


The group left the gym and stopped almost immediately outside, where Ashley and Red set themselves up for a brief pokemon battle. The two of them were standing twenty feet apart on the side of the road, their pokemon standing at the ready in front of them.

"-Go mom! Kick his butt!-" Pippi cheered, waving her arms around.

"I wonder why Red's Pikachu wanted to battle Bulbasaur anyway?" Rina thought. "It'll be interesting to see who wins though since Ashley seems to have the advantage..."

"Ok, you ready Red?" Ashley called out to him.

"Ready whenever you are, you can make the first move." Red called back.

"If you say so! Bulbasaur, hit her hard with Razor Leaf!" Bulbasaur nodded and fired several sharp leaves from the base of his bulb. The leaves shot through the air toward Red's Pikachu, but Pikachu almost effortlessly dodged the attack.

"-No way!-" Bulbasaur exclaimed in disbelief. "-Damn it, should have started with Stun Spore or Sleep Powder...-"

"Our turn now, ready Pikachu?" Pikachu nodded. "Ok, attack with Thunderbolt!"

"-Nothing personal, Bulbasaur, but your grumpy attitude bothers me a bit.-" Pikachu said to him before jumping into the air. She fired a huge bolt of electricity from her cheeks down on an angle toward Bulbasaur. Bulbasaur tried to jump out of the way but was too slow. He was caught by the bolt and a powerful electric current rain through his body. Bulbasaur cried out in pain and fell to the ground in a smoking heap.

"-Damn it...that hurt...-" Bulbasaur muttered weakly.

"Ah! No way!" Ashley cried out in disbelief. "Is his Pikachu really that powerful?!"

"Lets finish this with Quick Attack and call it a day." Red said to Pikachu. Pikachu dashed quickly across the pavement and then disappeared in a blur of movement as she neared Bulbasaur, striking him with a high speed attack. Bulbasaur cried out from the impact and then fell unconscious.

"No fair! Why didn't you tell me you were that strong?!" Ashley yelled to Red.

"You've seen me battle at Misty's gym." Red replied with a shrug. "Anyway, even if I did tell you, would you have changed your mind?"

"Err...guess not..." Ashley admitted, rubbing the back of her head in embarassment.

"-Wow! Did you see that?!-" Pippi cried out excitedly. "-Bulbasaur's tough but he didn't stand a chance against my mom!-"

"That much power from a Pikachu can't be normal..." Rina thought to herself. "I wonder..." Rina looked at Red's Pikachu, taking note of her unusually white cheeks. "Is there a connection between her power and her odd colored cheeks?"

"You guys are heading to Cinnabar next, right?" Red asked them.

"Yeah, I have to go there to get my next badge, why?" Ashley replied.

"I know someone who could get you on a pretty fast boat if you're willing to run an errand for him." Red said to her. "He asked me to do it after I beat Blaine, but I wasn't interested. I could call him up and have him meet you in Vermilion though."

"Thanks but...why are you being so nice all of a sudden?" Ashley asked, giving him a skeptic look.

"Like I said, you'll be running an errand for Bill." Red shrugged. "Its up to you, I'm just making the offer."

"Well running an errand would be better than going all the way to Cinnabar." Ashley looked over her shoulder to Rina. "Rina, what do you think?"

"I don't see any reason not to, so I'm all for it!" Rina replied enthusiastically. "Thanks, Red!"

"Err...your welcome..." Red turned his back to them and rubbed the back of his head. "Anyway, I'm heading off for real this time. I'll tell Bill to meet you guys in Vermilion. See you girls around."

"-Pippi, you behave yourself now!-" Pikachu called back and waved to the group. "-Bye everyone!-"

"Next time we see each other I won't lose so easily, you hear?" Ashley called out after him.

"Goodbye Red! Thanks for watching my match!"

"Well, guess we should head back to Vermilion then." Ashley said to Rina. Rina nodded in agreement. Ashley recalled Bulbasaur and then the two girls and Pippi set off again.


Author's Notes: Few notes this time since I kept track of my random thoughts while writing this chapter. So here they are in point form:

- The Blackbelts, another group of npc trainers, make their appearance here. I changed their teams, obviously, but I used the actual names of the trainers from the gym. So far, in the Kanto saga, we've also had Bugcatchers/Youngsters, a Hiker, male and female Campers, Bikers and Cueball, a Channeler, a young couple, and now Blackbelts. Most of them went nameless as they were just minor characters though. I think the npc trainers could do with the odd anime appearance, though. They have a different 'character of the day' almost every week anyway, so otherwise the character designs are just going to waste...

- Take a good look at Poliwrath and Poliwhirl. I think they could have made Poliwrath at least a little more different from its pre-evolved form honestly. The first generation pokemon weren't exactly the pinnacle of creativity, as I might have pointed out with Grimer/Muk in Koga's chapter. Thats not to say the first generation pokemon weren't good, their evolution paths just weren't very creative. I mean, compare the changes the fourth gen starters go through compared to the first gen ones...

- I made a note about the white cheeks Pippi's mother has. I think someone could piece together the evidence pretty well at this point...

- Next chapter will be Bill's first appearance in the story. I was originally going to have Ashley and Rina go to visit him, but I couldn't come up with a particularly good reason for them to...

Well, thats that. I'll be trying to squeeze the Sevii Islands sidequest into a single chapter next week. Could end up being another fairly long chapter as a result because of the way it'll be set up.