Author's note: Sorry for the insanely long hiatus. School has started back, leaving me very little time to write. This does mean that Grounded will be updated a lot less frequently, which also means that Total Drama Death Island and Sonic Adventure Abridged will be likely pushed back to 2017. However, I will be making an effort to update these stories as frequently as I can. Anyway, enjoy the long-awaited ninth chapter!

Chapter 9: May the Force

Jake and his team stood in front of the Mauville Gym.

"You ready guys?" Jake asked.

"You know it," Eren replied.

"We have the game plan," Harrison added. "Let's go."

Jake walked through the door, and there was a battlefield surrounded by electric generators, energy beaming from one to the other.

"Welcome, challenger," greeted the old man in the Alolan shirt from the last chapter.

"Hey, you're the guy that Rydel-" Jake said, just before stopping himself.

"What?" the man asked. "Whatever. My name is Wattson, the Mauville gym leader. As you can probably tell from the décor, I specialize in Electric-Types."

"Understood," Jake said. "Let's have ourselves a SHOCKing battle."

"Don't do that," Wattson said. "Do you know how many bad electricity puns I've had to endure? Just start the match already."

"Alright, let's go, Eren!" Jake yelled.

Eren leapt into the battlefield as Wattson yelled, "Go, Voltorb!"

"Alright, Eren," Jake started. "Leaf Blade!"

The leaves on Eren's wrists started to glow green, stiffening out. Eren lunged toward the Voltorb, slashing it unconscious with his new blades.

"Huh," Wattson remarked. "Thought that would be more climactic. Well, let's go, Magnemite!" He threw out another Pokéball, causing a Magnemite to spring forward.

"Eren, take 5!" Jake yelled. "Let's go, Milo!" Milo slowly crawled onto the field, and Wattson started laughing.

"That thing? Please. Magnemite, just Volt Switch on it."

The Magnemite covered itself in electricity, barreling towards Milo.

"Jake, get him out of there!" Cami yelled.

"Hold on," Jake assured her. "This is exactly what I wanted."

The Magnemite got closer and closer to Milo, until…

He harmlessly bounced off of Milo, landing on the ground.

"What!?" Wattson cried.

"Milo's a Nincada," Jake explained. "Nincada are Bug/Ground. Ground beats Electric. Which I'm certain is not good for you. Milo, Mud Slap!" Milo grabbed as much dirt as he could, rolling it into a tight ball. He threw it at the Magnemite, who went unconscious.

"Great job, buddy!" Jake said.

"~kree!~" Milo clicked happily.

"We're not done yet!" Wattson roared. "Magneton! GO!"

Another Pokéball was thrown, releasing three Magnemites stuck together.

"Alright, Milo," Jake asked, "You've got this, right?"

Milo nodded, clicking away.

"Alright then," Jake said, turning back to the fight. "Let's go! Mud Slap!"

Milo began rolling up dirt again, but Wattson yelled, "Magneton! Mirror Shot!" Magneton's magnets started glowing, and each one fired off a ball of light that hit Milo, one after the other.

"MILO!" Jake yelled. "Get back!" He went for his Pokéball, but Milo finished charging the Mud Slap, and threw it at the Magneton with all his might.

Critical hit!

The Magneton fell to the ground, sparking.

"Wow," Wattson said. "That is one mighty bug. Well, here you go. One Dynamo Badge." He grabbed the badge out of his shirt, holding it out to Jake, who eagerly took it.

Dynamo Badge obtained!

"The next gym is in Lavaridge Town," Wattson said. "Just go north out of Mauville, then west through Fallarbor."

"Thanks for the tip," Jake thanked him.

"Uh, Jake?" Cami said. "Milo's glowing."

Jake turned to see Milo, who was glowing and growing, even levitating.

Congratulations! Milo evolved into Ninjask!

Milo started gleefully flying around the room, testing out his new wings.

"Nice!" Jake cried. "That's a third of my team fully evolved already!"

"Well, let's head to Lavaridge," Alice said eagerly. "I hear that the leader there is a Fire-Type. I wouldn't miss it for the world."

"We should probably grind on the way," Jake said, walking out of the gym, "But you'll definitely main the battle."

On Route 111, the Team stopped at the pile of rocks that stood in their way.

"Alice," Jake called. "Rock Smash." Alice jumped toward the rocks, punching them each to dust. Suddenly, a Geodude hiding in the rocks revealed itself. "Oh, a Geodude!" Jake yelled. "Weaken it so I can catch it!"

"I don't see it!" Alice said, Rock Smashing the Geodude in the face. It flew into a wall, where abunch of rocks tumbled on top of it. Jake glared at Alice, who shrugged nervously. Suddenly, she began to glow.

Congratulations! Alice evolved into Azumarrill!

"Well, at least we got something out of this," Jake said while walking onward.

"Hey, nerd," May said, Combusken behind her.

"Damn it, not you again!" Jake whined.

"Looks like you owe me a battle, nerd," May demanded. "You blew me off at Route 110. So now, it's finally time to-" When she looked up, Jake was gone. "Damn."

"Mt. Chimney, huh?" Jake asked, looking out at the giant mountain with smoke rising from the top.

"Hoenn's pride and joy," Cami explained. "The tourists that come to visit are one of Hoenn's main sources of income."

"Are you gonna end this battle or not?" a Hiker asked, his Geodude wobbling around in a daze.

"Oh, sorry," Jake apologized. "Cami, Headbutt."

Cami ran full-force into the Geodude, sending flying into the side of the mountain. She then held her head tightly. "Why would you tell me to headbutt a straight-up rock!?" Cami yelled. "OW! Now I'M the one who's dizzy!" Suddenly, her body began to glow a vibrant gold, which by this point you probably know what that means.

Congratualtions! Cami evolved into Linoone!

"Well, that's new," Cami said sarcastically. "But, I do like my new body."

"Wow, cool!" Wily admired her. "I can't wait until I evolve!"

"I'm gonna tell him," Eren said.

"Don't you dare!" Cami snapped at him.

Stepping into an adjacent cave, Eren looked uneasy.

"Hey, what's up with you?" Harrison asked.

"I'm not a big fan of the heat," Eren explained. "I feel like I'll burst into flames at any point."

"I think that thing already has," Alice said, gesturing toward a Pokémon that seemed to be made of lava.

"WOAH!" Jake cried. "What is that thing!?"

"That's a Slugma," Cami explained. "How do you not know what Slugma is? You literally said Slugma in the FIRST CHAPTER!"

"I'M GONNA CATCH IT!" Jake declared, ignoring her and throwing a Pokéball at the Slugma.

Escargot the Slugma was sent to the PC!

Stepping out of the cave and onto Route 113, Jake sniffed the fresh air. "Isn't it nice, guys?"

"Sure is, nerd."

Jake turned around to an all-too-familiar face. "What do you want, May?"

"You know exactly what I want, you butt trumpet!" May yelled, jabbing a finger in Jake's face. "You. Me. Battle. NOW."

"No."

"…No?"

"I don't feel like it."

"Wait… you… don't feel like it?"

"That's right."

"But… but… you can't just refuse! We HAVE to battle! That's how this works!"

"Well, I just want to get to the next town. We can battle later."

"L-later? LATER!?"

As Jake tried to turn around to walk away, May jumped back in front of him. "No!" She yelled, pulling out three Pokéballs. "We're battling NOW, and I'm not letting you pass until one of us loses!"

"Nah."

"DON'T YOU GET IT?" May screamed. "THIS WORLD IS BATTLE OR BE BATTLED!"

"May."

"WHAT!?"

"Shut up."

And with that, Jake and his team walked off, leaving a wide-eyed, confounded May behind.

"That's it," she said, out of earshot, "Jake, you're going down. One way or another."