Chapter 6, and Ash's first Gym Battle! As always, feedback/reviews are greatly appreciated and help me stay motivated! Also, what anime characters would you like to see featured?
Who do you want Ash to end up being shipped with? And who do you want Ivy ending up being shipped with? Any anime characters are up for consideration. :)
I already have some ideas for this, but I'd love to see what you're thinking :)
Enjoy!
"So that's the Grapevine Gym?" Ash asked, as he and Daisy approached a large building that looked more like a gigantic greenhouse than a gym.
"Yup," Daisy nodded. "But can't we go meet up with Ivy first?"
"Well, you can," Ash replied. "But we want to go to our first Gym Battle, right, Pikachu?"
"Pika!" Pikachu agreed with his Trainer.
"Alright…," sighed Daisy. "I wanna watch your battle, so can we go look for Ivy when you're all finished?"
"Sure," Ash agreed. He agreed, but he still didn't know how he felt about this Ivy girl and seeing her again. As the two started towards the Gym, he asked, "So, this is a Grass-type gym, right?"
"I'm assuming so," Daisy shrugged. "I'm not from this region, remember?"
"Oh, right," Ash sighed. "You're from Hoenn."
"Mhm," Daisy nodded.
So, she and Ash and Pikachu entered the Gym. Inside, the air was filled with the fragrant aroma of flowers and plants of all kinds, which grew all over the place. It was beautiful inside; a contained jungle. Grass Pokémon of all kinds played and relaxed in the plants, looking as happy as Pokémon could look. Ash, Daisy, and Pikachu all stared in awe as the sliding glass doors shut behind them.
"Hello there," came the voice of a human, who was clearly female. "Have you come to challenge me?"
"Yeah," Ash replied, as he looked around for who the voice belonged to. "I'm Ash, from Pallet Town, in the Kanto Region, and I came here for a Gym Battle...but...um...where are you?"
Daisy flushed in embarrassment for her new friend, and winced.
"Here I am!" called the voice again.
All three of them looked up, as a silhouette of a girl swooped down on a vine, landing in a standing position in a tree branch that was in clear view. Her skin was dark and clear, her hair olive and in two little spiky ponytails at the base of her neck. She wore a purple bandana, that matched the belly shirt she wore over an olive tank top, with denim capris. Her gloves were purple and green, matching the rest of her ensemble, while her lace-up boots were dotted with mud, presumably from working in the gardens with all her Grass-type Pokémon.
"I am Olive, the Grapevine Town Gym Leader!" she announced valiantly. "If you wish to challenge me, you must understand my rules: it will be a two on two battle, and only you, the challenger, are allowed to substitute Pokémon!"
"Alright!" Ash replied, getting pumped up for battle.
"Okay then!" Olive hollered down. "Here I come!"
She went to reach back to the vine so she could come down from the tree, however, her aim wasn't good. Instead of gracefully swinging down to the ground from the tree, she fell flat on her face, flailing her arms and screeching in the process. But, she got up quickly, dusted herself off, and smiled through her obvious embarrassment.
"Okay, follow me to the battlefield!" Olive called, regaining her composure. She gestured for them to follow her, as she started down a path in the indoor garden.
Glancing at each other, Ash and Daisy shrugged, and followed Olive through her greenhouse jungle. Finally, after literally feeling like they'd walked an entire jungle, they came upon a clearing that was the battlefield. It was a grass rectangle, with white-painted grass marking the lines of the battlefield. Olive had already assumed her position in one of the marked boxes on the end of the battlefield, so Ash took stance on the other end, with Pikachu by his side. After glancing around for a minute, Daisy found a vine-covered bench on the sidelines, which she then took a seat on.
A referee came forward from the plants, waving the battle flags. She repeated the rules that Olive had already told Ash, waved the flags once again, and the battle was finally ready to begin.
"Alright," Olive called, readying her PokéBall. "Let's get this started with my flowering first Pokémon! Get ready to battle, Ludicolo!"
"Ludicolo!" exclaimed the duck/pineapple-like Pokémon apparated on the battlefield. It did a little happy dance, as if it wasn't about to battle.
"Cool, Ludicolo," Ash muttered, looking at the opposing Pokémon.
For some extra help, he pulled out his new PokéDex, which told him: "Ludicolo, the Carefree Pokémon. Ludicolo becomes extremely active whenever it hears a cheery rhythm. This can also lead it to exert extreme power in battle."
"Okay," Ash nodded, knowing what he was going to do. He brought his first-caught Pokémon along, and he was ready to use one now. Pulling a PokéBall from his pocket, he called, "Pidgeot, I choose you!"
"Pidgeot!" exclaimed the great bird Pokémon, as it flew a lap around the battlefield before landing in the grass.
"Nice, a Kanto Pokémon!" Olive complimented.
"Thanks!" Ash replied, grinning a bit, but still ready for battle.
"Too bad this isn't a beauty contest!" laughed the Gym Leader. "Okay, Ludicolo, let's get this started with Blizzard!"
"Colo!" agreed the Pokémon, sending out the attack.
"Blizzard?!" Ash asked, shocked. Knowing Pidgeot was weak against Ice-type attacks, he hollered, "Fly up and out of the way, Pidgeot!"
However, though Pidgeot tried to dodge, it was still struck by the edge of Ludicolo's Blizzard, which clearly did some damage. Not as much as it would've been if the attack had been a direct hit, but enough damage to cause both Ash and Pidgeot to wince.
"That's right," Olive nodded. "I've trained Ludicolo to use Ice-type moves to better protect it against types it has a disadvantage against."
"Smart," Ash nodded in approval. "But not smart enough! Pidgeot, use Sand Attack!"
As the Flying-type mustered up a mighty, swirling Sand Attack, Olive and Ludicolo looked rather unphased, as the attack was about to make contact.
"Use Blizzard again, Ludicolo!" Olive shouted.
The two attacks met somewhere in the middle of the field, balancing each other out in such a manner that neither attack reached the target, and both attacks faltered to nothing. Ash clenched his fist, trying to think of a strategy, while Olive stood strong, hands on her hips, at the other end of the field.
"Okay, Pidgeot, try Quick Attack!" Ash commanded.
"Double Team!" Olive commanded in counter.
Pidgeot raced at Ludicolo, though there were about a dozen of them on the field now. Ash urged Pidgeot to attack all of them, which it did.
Just as contact was about to be made between the two Pokémon, Olive hollered, "Nature Power!"
Like Metronome, Nature Power wasn't a certain attack. But, both Trainers quickly saw that right as Ludicolo was hit by Pidgeot's Quick Attack, Pidgeot got a face full of the Stun Spore that Ludicolo's Nature Power ended up releasing. Ash, Olive and Daisy all watched with anticipation, waiting for the Stun Spore dust to clear, before they saw that both Pokémon were effectively knocked out.
"Both Pidgeot and Ludicolo are unable to battle!" declared the referee. "Both parties must now call out their second and last Pokémon!"
"Okay, Charizard, I choose you!" Ash called, throwing out his PokéBall. It was his attempt at thinking fast on his feet.
Chuckling, Olive said, "Your hasty thinking may not work out as well as you think, Ash! Just wait 'till you see my succulent second Pokémon! Let's finish this, Cradily!"
"Wow, a Cradily!" Daisy called with admiration from her place on the sidelines. Ash shoot her a look, which she blushed at, and then called, "But...go! Go Ash!"
"I thought Cradily was an ancient Pokémon!" Ash exclaimed.
"Oh, it is," Olive confirmed. "But I found a fossil of Lileep here when we were remodeling my Gym, which Professor Yew happily revived for me. We became best friends, and then Lileep evolved into the vigorous Cradily you see today!"
"Cool!" Daisy shouted, her eyes starry with awe. Then, once she again realized she should be cheering for Ash, she meekly added, "...But go Ash!"
Ash rolled his eyes, turning away from Daisy. Ready to begin battling, he first pulled out his PokéDex, which said: "Cradily, the Barnacle Pokémon. Cradily is believed to be able to extend its tree branch-like neck and catch prey with its tentacles."
"Charizard, use Flamethrower!" Ash called, starting things off.
Charizard roared, launching the stream of fire at its opponent, Cradily. It was a direct hit. However, because Cradily was part Rock-type, the attack didn't have the effect it would've on a pure Grass-type Pokémon, leaving Ash scrambling for a better strategy.
While Ash scrambled, Olive hollered, "Energy Ball, Cradily!"
"Quick, Charizard, dodge it!" Ash yelled.
Charizard dodged the attack, which triggered a chain of attacks and dodges between the two opposing Pokémon. Olive remained calm during the ordeal, but Ash didn't. Both Pokémon landed on their feet after attacking and dodging many times, both gasping for breath. They were already getting exhausted and had some scrapes and bruises from partial hits and risky dodges.
Just by looking at Charizard, Ash knew that it was running low on energy, and probably only had one last chance to win this. He was determined, and he had one last move that he thought to try. And if it worked - it could win the battle.
"Seismic Toss, Charizard!" Ash commanded.
Charizard had Cradily in its arms before Olive could call for her Pokémon to dodge or counter. Everyone in the room went silent, as Charizard flew around in circles, before plummeting back to the ground, slamming Cradily into the ground with great force. After the dust cleared, the result of the battle was clear - Ash and Charizard were the victors.
"Cradily is unable to battle!" announced the referee. "Charizard and its Trainer, Ash of Pallet Town, are the victors!"
Olive recalled her Pokémon, as Ash ran to hug and thank Charizard. Daisy ran out on the field to congratulate her new friend, and Olive came over with a smile.
"Great battle, Ash," she told him honestly, as the two shook hands. She pulled a badge from her pocket, in the shape of a four-leaf clover. Offering it to him, she added, "You deserve it, Ash. Here's your Lush Badge."
"Thank you, Olive," Ash nodded. He did his usual little dance and pose with his Pokémon, calling, "I just won my Lush Badge!"
However, this time, winning a badge didn't give him the same overwhelming joy that it usually did. He felt that the Abuna Region was different, and was going to be vastly different than all the other regions he'd battled through. And he didn't think that the battles would be the things that made Abuna so different and unsettling.