Thanks for the reviews guys I really appreciate you taking the time to write one.
Here's chapter 21 I hope you enjoy.
In conversations:
'- Translation of Poké Speech – No human unless otherwise stated can understand it. Ash can get the gist of what his Pokémon are saying due to his close bond with them.
"- Human speech
' - Thoughts'
Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon.
After a few hour of walking Ash and Salem arrived at Mauville City. They chose to split up so that Ash could go to the gym and hopefully find Wattson while Salem went to the Pokémon Centre and send Galvantula and Zebstrika back to Professor Juniper so she could officially catch Plusle and Minun. They agreed to meet up outside of the Game Corner when they were done and then went their separate ways.
Ash quickly found the gym and walked inside however he couldn't see a thing as the room was pitch black. He heard a growl to his right and when he turned he saw a Raikou charging at him. Ash could see that the Raikou had no intention of stopping so he was forced to jump to his right to avoid it. This sent Ralts and Eevee flying off his shoulder and they cried in pain as they slammed into the ground. Ash heard his daughters pained cry and saw red, he looked at Meowth and Raichu who were just as angry as him.
"Raichu, Meowth use Iron Tail!"
Raichu and Meowth's tails turned metallic and then ran at the Raikou who had turned around and started charging again. As Meowth an Raichu got close to the legendary dog they leapt in the air and then slammed their tails down on Raikou's head. The top of the Raikou's head crumpled under the combination of Meowth and Raichu's tails.
"Holy shit." Ash said as he looked at Raikou's crumpled skull.
Ash, Meowth and Raichu looked worriedly at the Raikou and his caved in skull. They walked closer and were concerned about what had just happened. Ash then spotted pieces of metal in the Raikou's head. He knelt down and saw that the inside of his head was filled with several wires and computer chips.
"It's a robot." Ash said.
They all let out a sigh of relief but then started to wonder why a robotic Raikou was charging around in a gym.
"Wahahahah! Well, you defeated my Raikou bot. Well done."
Ash, Meowth, Raichu, Eevee and Ralts started looking around trying to find whoever just spoke to them. Suddenly all of the light turned on which blinded all five of them, eventually their vision started to return although they were still seeing spots. They jumped back as they saw a large man with a big white beard was stood in front of them.
"Wahahahah! I apologize for startling you. I'm Wattson and this is my gym. I have to say you look like you have a lot of zip! That's a good thing. Wahahahah!"
"Hello Wattson. My name is Ash Ketchum and I have some data for you from Devon Corp."
"Ah yes Mr Stone told me you were coming. If you'll come with me we can get this installed and then we can have our gym battle."
"Ok that sounds good to me. Oh and sorry for breaking your Raikou bot."
"Wahahahah! Don't worry about it. It was quite a thrill watching you break it. Now let's get going."
Ash nodded and after picking up Ralts and Eevee he followed Wattson out of the gym. They started walking towards the Power Plant which meant they had to pass the Pokémon Centre. Salem walked out of the Pokémon Centre just as Ash and Wattson passed by so she quickly caught up with them. They followed Wattson until they came to the entrance to the Power Plant, he unlocked the door and they entered the building. Ash and Salem jumped back when they saw a few Voltorb and Electrode roll by, Wattson looked at them and once he saw their reaction to the electric types he burst out laughing.
"Wahahahah! There's no need to be afraid of the Voltorb and Electrode they're not going to explode."
"That's a relief to know." Ash said.
"Yeah it is." Salem added.
Although Wattson had said that they weren't going to explode Ash and Salem weren't going to test out whether he was right so they kept their distances from any Voltorb or Electrode they came across. A they turned around a corner none of them heard the door open as Anne carefully snuck into the building.
Anne hid around a corner when she spotted a female technician coming her way and waited for her to walk by. When the woman was close to her Anne stepped out and knocked the technician out with a blow to the back of her head. She then dragged the woman into the storage room and swapped clothes with her. Anne then walked out of the room and caught up with Wattson, Ash and Salem who were just about to a enter a room that had a sign saying authorised personnel only in big red letters on the door. Wattson opened the door and they all walked in. Anne then took a seat by the main computer that was linked to the reactor. She started tapping away on the computer easily bypassing the security so that she could log in and when no one was watching she plugged in a Memory Stick. Wattson, Ash and Salem then approached Anne and watched as she appeared to be working hard.
"Could we have the data please Ash?" Wattson asked.
"Of course."
Ash rummaged through his pockets and found the disk, he took it out of his pocket and handed it to the the woman sat in front of him. He was slightly suspicious when he saw a smirk briefly appear on her face when she took the disk but before he could question it she inserted the data disk into the computer. They watched as she rapidly tapped a series of keys on the keyboard which ended up with reprogramming the system. She ran a scan of the system which showed that the malfunction problem had been remedied. Anne then quickly copied the data to the Memory Stick and then placed it in her pocket. She got up from her chair and she left the room. Everyone looked confusedly as they wondered why she left but shook it off assuming that she had her reasons.
Anne returned to the storage room and after putting her uniform back on she walked out of the Power Plant. She took her Pokénav off her belt and dialled Rethant's number.
"Commander Anne I hope you are calling me for a reason." Rethant said in an irritated tone.
"Yes sir, I have obtained the data the Ketchum boy delivered to the Power Plant."
"I knew I could count on you Commander, now return to the base."
"Yes sir."
Anne hung up and placed her Pokénav back on her belt. She then sent out her Unfezant and after getting on to his back they shot off towards the main base.
Ash, Salem and Wattson then walked out of the Power Plant and headed back towards the gym. They walked into the gym and Salem looked at the Raikou with the caved in head and was at first horrified until she the wires and computer chips inside. She looked away from the bot and saw that Ash and Wattson had entered the battling area. She quickly caught up with them and she stood next to Ash. Wattson stopped walking and turned around looking at the young trainers.
"So which one of you two am I going to battle first?" Wattson asked.
"Well Ash should go first since I fought Brawly first." Salem said.
Ash sent an appreciative look at Salem who smiled back at him. He wanted to fight first so that he didn't know Wattson's battle style as that made the battle much more fun in his opinion. Salem took a seat on the sideline and watched as Ash and Wattson stood in the trainer boxes. Wattson then stepped on a button by his foot which alerted the referee in the other room that they needed him. Ash and Wattson waited for the referee to come in and start the match however after a couple of minutes Ash was getting impatient. He was about to say something about looking for the ref when he entered the room and took his place on the sidelines.
"This battle is a between Ash Ketchum and Wattson the Mauville City gym leader. It will be a three vs three battle where only the challenger can switch Pokémon. Wattson shall choose his Pokémon first." the referee declared.
"Manetric you're up."
The electric canine appeared on the battlefield and growled showing that he was raring to battle. Everyone waited for Ash to make his choice and were confused when they saw him kneel. Ash placed his hand on Meowth's back which made the cat look up at him.
"Meowth it's time for your first gym battle." Ash said.
"R-really?" Meowth whispered.
"Yes Meowth, you've trained hard these last few months and I think you deserve to battle."
"T-thanks boss. I won't let you down."
"I know you won't."
Ash stood up and Meowth walked on to the battlefield wearing a determined smirk as he met Manetric's battle stare.
"Manetric Thunderbolt."
"Match it then use Quick Attack."
Meowth and Manetric fired a bolt of electricity at each other. The attacks clashed and to Wattson and Manetric's surprise it was an even draw. The draw left Manetric and Wattson shocked as no other non electric type had ever been able to match Manetric's Thunderbolt. It was then that they realised that they could not afford to underestimate the cat they were fighting.
"Use Quick Attack to get close then use Iron Tail."
"Meowth jump then Iron Tail."
Manetric shot off at an incredible speed and rammed into Meowth knocking him back. Manetric's tail then turned metallic and he swung it at Meowth who jumped at the last minute, dodging the attack. Meowth tail then turned metallic and he slammed it down on Manetric's head. The canine cried out in pain and staggered away as he held his head which was now pounding.
"Use Slash."
Meowth extended his claws and ran at Manetric who was still clutching his sore head. The canine heard something headed his way and opened his eyes just in time to see Meowth's claws descending towards him. He shifted to the right in an attempt to dodge Meowth's claws but he only managed to ensure that the claws raked down his side instead of across his face. Manetric cried out in pain again as he felt blood trickle from the three gashes along his side. Meowth went for another slash however Manetric jump away landing in front of Wattson and then falling to his knees as he tried to deal with the pain in his side. After a few moments he pushed himself to his feet.
"Manetric use Shock Wave then go for a Thunder Fang."
"Meowth go for another Quick Attack."
Manetric was surrounded in light blue electricity and then he fired a blue bolt of electricity at Meowth who had shot off and was charging at Manetric. The cat knew that there was no way he could stop himself from being hit by the Shock Wave so he ran straight at it. He cried out in pain as the electricity shocked him however after all the years of Raichu shocking him it really didn't hurt as much as it should have done. Once he powered through the Shock Wave he continued charging at Manetric who's fangs were now crackling with electricity. Manetric snapped his jaws shut biting down on Meowth's right arm which made him cry out in pain as the fangs pierced his skin. The pain drained Meowth's strength and he was thrown in the air by Manetric which sent him crashing back to Ash however he quickly got back to his feet.
"Manetric hit him with another Thunderbolt."
"Dig then use Water Pulse."
A bolt of electricity shot off Manetric and headed straight for Meowth however the cat quickly reacted by digging underground. Manetric looked around trying to spot where Meowth would appear but he couldn't see a thing that would indicate where Meowth was. Suddenly the ground behind Manetric shook and the cat burst out of the ground. The canine turned around just in time for an orb of water to slam into him and send him crashing into the wall. Manetric then fell face first on the ground and was struggling to push himself upright.
"Now finish it with Iron Tail."
Meowth ran at the drenched canine and his tail turned metallic, he then leapt in the air and slammed his tail down on Manetric's back. The force of the attack smashed Manetric into the ground and he let out one final pained cry before he lost consciousness.
"Manetric is unable to battle. Wattson choose your next Pokémon."
Wattson returned Manetric and then chose his next Pokémon.
"Electrode it's your turn."
"Meowth you did a great job now take a break."
The cat nodded and sat down next to Ash relieved that he could take some time to recover his strength.
"Treecko to the battlefield."
The lizard appeared on the battlefield and took a twig out of his tail, he then placed the twig in his mouth and smirked at Electrode.
"Hit him with a Rollout."
"Dig then Brick Break."
Electrode rolled at Treecko at an incredible speed however the lizard quickly dug underground which made Electrode roll into the hole and get stuck. As Electrode tried to free himself Treecko burst out of the ground and aimed his arm which was glowing white at the electric type. Electrode desperately tried to get out of the hole but he was unable to so he was forced to take Treecko's attack. It took all of Electrode's strength not to explode when Treecko's arm slammed down on the top of his body which is far more volatile then any other part of his him.
"Jump back and use Bullet Seed."
Treecko did a back flip to create some distance between him and Electrode. He then open his mouth and fired several bullet like seeds at Electrode who was still trying to get out of the hole. The seeds hit Electrode and he intensified his efforts to escape as the pain was gradually increasing. Wattson looked at Electrode and knew that he would have to use to risk hurting Electrode to get him out of that hole.
"Signal Beam."
Electrode was dubious about his trainers command but he would never disobey Wattson so he formed a white orb in front of him. A strange multi coloured beam then shot from the orb and exploded almost instantly when it hit another barrage of Treecko's Bullet Seed. The explosion caused Electrode to cry out in pain however it had the desired effect as Electrode was now out of the hole and in front of Wattson. Ash watched as Electrode wobbled in front of Wattson showing how much of an effect Brick Break, Bullet Seed and Electrode's own Signal Beam had had on him.
"Thunderbolt."
"Block it with Hidden Power."
A bolt of electricity shot off of Electrode and headed straight towards Treecko. The lizard quickly reacted by forming six orbs that were encased in ice and he fired them at the bolt of electricity. The Thunderbolt shattered the first two orbs easily however the next two were considerably tougher to get through and the final two stopped it completely. Wattson was surprised at how easily Treecko was blocking Electrode's attack. It seemed he would have to be a bit craftier if he wanted to damage Treecko.
"Discharge."
"Jump in the air."
A wave of electricity was released by Electrode which covered the whole battlefield. As the wave approached Treecko he leapt into the air to dodge the electricity. Ash looked from Treecko to Wattson and saw the old Gym Leader smiling.
"Now use Signal Beam."
Electrode formed a white orb in front of him and fired another strange multi coloured beam at Treecko. This time there was attack to block it and the beam hit Treecko slamming him into the ceiling. Treecko then slammed to the ground landing on his side which sent an immense amount of pain shooting through him. Treecko got up while gritting his teeth to stop himself letting out a pained cry.
"Rollout."
"Get close with Quick Attack then use Iron Tail on the side."
Electrode saw the opportunity to take advantage of a weakened Treecko and he rolled at the lizard at full speed making sure to avoid the holes in the battlefield. Treecko managed to ignore the pain in his side and he shot off towards Electrode. At the last second Treecko stepped to the left and his tail turned metallic. He then slammed his tail into the electric types side which combined with the speed they were both already travelling sent Electrode rolling into the wall. Electrode had no chance to stop himself so he crashed into the wall. Wattson looked sadly at Electrode who had pulled himself out of the wall. Electrode met his trainers gaze and they both knew what must be done.
"Forgive me Electrode. Use Self Destruct." Wattson said sadly.
"Use Dig to dodge it!" Ash yelled desperately.
Electrode's body glowed white and before Treecko could try to burrow underground he violently exploded shrouding the entire room in smoke.
"TREECKO!" Ash shouted.
Everyone was left coughing and spluttering as smoke filled their lungs. As the smoke started to clear it revealed Electrode unconscious on the battlefield but Treecko was nowhere to be seen. Ash looked around worriedly trying to spot the lizard. He finally found Treecko when he looked up and him embedded in the roof. His eyes widened in fear as he saw the roof around Treecko crumble causing the lizard to start plummeting towards the ground. Ash ran out on to the battlefield and caught Treecko moments before he would have crashed into the ground.
"Electrode and Treecko are unable to battle. Chose your next Pokémon."
Ash couldn't hide his anger as he saw the wounds covering Treecko's body. He gave Wattson a glare as he returned Treecko and placed the Pokéball on his belt. Wattson saw the glare and he wasn't surprised that Ash was looking that way. To be perfectly honest he would feel that same way.
"Believe me Ash I took no pleasure in asking Electrode to do that but as a Gym Leader I have to use any methods to make these matches as difficult as possible. Do you think I'm the only person who would use a tactic like that? When you get to the Hoenn League you will face people who will gladly do that at any point of the match and you need to be ready for when that happens."
Ash looked down as he realised that Wattson was right.
"I'm sorry Wattson I... I just hate seeing a Pokémon use moves like that."
"I understand how you feel Ash. Now let's finish this battle. Magneton it's your turn."
The magnet Pokémon appeared on the battlefield and discharged a small amount of electricity showing how excited he was to battle.
Ash looked at Magneton and knew he had one of two choices however one of them would be complete overkill. So he took the other choices Pokéball off his belt.
"Chimchar to the battlefield."
Chimchar appeared on the battlefield and looked around the room instantly recognising this as a gym. He remembered every gym battle he'd had before and how he'd always been yelled at afterwards for not doing well enough. There was one occasion where he had been severely beaten by the rest of his team mates because he'd lost. He shook his head trying to get rid of the awful memories that still plagued him but he couldn't. Chimchar then jumped as he felt someone place a hand on his back. He looked back and saw Ash kneeling behind him with a concerned look on his face.
"Chimchar I will never be disappointed in you and I will never hurt you or yell at you like your old trainer did. It won't matter to me whether you win, lose or draw as long as you give it you're all that's all that matters."
The fire monkey felt tears build in his eyes at Ash's words. Ash then picked up Chimchar and gave him a hug which the fire monkey returned.
"So do you wanna battle?"
Chimchar nodded then jumped out of Ash's arms and stood in a battle stance on the battlefield
"Start with Flamethrower."
"Counter with Thunderbolt."
Chimchar opened his mouth and shot a burst of flames at Magneton. The magnet Pokémon quickly responded by firing a bolt of electricity at the Flamethrower. The Thunderbolt easily cut through Chimchar's Flamethrower and the fire monkey cried out in pain as the electricity shocked him. The power of the attack forced Chimchar to fall to one knee as he tried to deal with the pain. Ash was now questioning his choice as he had clearly underestimated Wattson's Magneton. He watched as Chimchar got back to his feet and stood in front of him.
"Use Flame Wheel."
"Stop him with Tri Attack."
Chimchar quickly got into a ball and became engulfed in flames. He then charged at Magneton who had formed three orbs in a triangle. The first orb was encased in ice, the second orb that crackled with electricity and the final orb was engulfed in flames. Magneton waited until Chimchar was close and then fired a beam of ice, a burst of flames and a bolt of electricity at the fire monkey. The trio of attacks hit Chimchar and gradually pushed him back until finally he was overpowered sending him skidding along the ground back to Ash.
"Chimchar use Dig then Brick Break."
"Charge a Sonic Boom then fire it when he appears."
The screws on Magneton's body glowed white and he closed his eyes. Chimchar briefly looked at Magneton and then quickly dug underground. Moments later Chimchar burst out of the ground next to Magneton and sent his glowing white arm down on Magneton smashing the magnet Pokémon into the ground. Chimchar felt like letting out a cheer at what he'd just done however before he could do anything a large white shock wave slammed into him and sent him crashing into the wall. Chimchar slumped to the ground and struggled to push himself to his hands and knees.
"Chimchar are you okay?" Ash asked worriedly.
Chimchar didn't hear Ash, he was too busy thinking about how much of a failure he believed he was. He was going to let Ash and everyone else down. He looked at Magneton who was levitating in front of Wattson appearing to be pretty much fighting fit. He turned his gaze to Ash who was looking at him with a concerned look on his face. Chimchar then looked down and pounded the ground angrily.
'I'm truly pathetic.' he thought as he pounded the ground again. 'If only I was stronger!' Chimchar felt his anger building and he slowly got to his feet as he glared at Magneton. 'I WILL NOT LOSE!' Chimchar yelled as he glowed white.
Everyone was forced to shield their eyes as the immense light radiated off Chimchar. Gradually the light faded and everyone was able to see again. They looked to the battlefield and saw that a Monferno was now stood on the battlefield. Although Ash was overjoyed that Chimchar had evolved he was slightly worried as memories of when Charmander evolved came to mind.
"Way to go Monferno!" Ash exclaimed
Monferno looked back and Ash was worried when he saw the blank expression on the monkeys face. His fears were soon banished though when Monferno grinned and gave him a thumbs up. Ash let out a relieved sigh and then refocussed on the battle.
"Monferno use Mach Punch and follow up with a Flamethrower."
Monferno's right fist glowed white and he shot forward slamming his fist into Magneton three times hitting each of it's eyes. The force of the punches blurred Magneton's vision making the steel type rapidly blink in an attempt to regain his vision. The blurriness faded just in time for the steel type to see a burst of flames coming closer. All three of its eyes widened and as the flames engulfed the magnet Pokémon everyone heard a series of cries which they assumed were pain filled. The flames vanished revealing Magneton who had burns marks on its metallic body.
"Use Shock Wave."
"Go for another Flamethrower."
Magneton was surrounded in light blue electricity and then he fired a blue bolt of electricity at Monferno who shot a burst of flames in response. The flames clashed with the blue electricity and after a short battle the attacks exploded.
"Brick Break."
"Stop him with Tri Attack."
Monferno's arm glowed white and he charged at Magneton who had once again formed three orbs in a triangle. The first orb was encased in ice, the second orb that crackled with electricity and the final orb was engulfed in flames. Like before Magneton waited until Monferno was close to him and then he fired a beam of ice, a burst of flames and a bolt of electricity at the fire monkey. The trio of attacks hit Monferno however this time Monferno was pushing the combined attacks back. Finally Monferno broke through the attack and his arm slammed down on Magneton making the steel type crash to the ground.
Monferno quickly leapt away from Magneton as he remembered what had happened the last time he had lingered after attacking the steel type. He landed in front of Ash and fell to one knee as he started to breathe heavily. Pushing through the Tri Attack had taken a lot out of Monferno as he limps now felt like they were made of lead. Ash looked from Monferno to Magneton who had managed to get back into the air and knew that they were both on the verge of passing out. Suddenly Monferno was surrounded in a red glow indicating that his Blaze ability had been activated.
"Finish it with Flame Wheel!"
"Match him with Wild Charge."
Monferno called on all the power he had by getting into a ball and became engulfed in flames that were far more intense than before. At the same Magneton was surrounded in electricity and he charged at Monferno who had started rolling towards him. The Pokémon clashed and the combined power of their attacks meant that after a few seconds the attacks exploded bathing both Pokémon and smoke. Everyone coughed as another thick fog of smoke filled their lungs and were forced to wait until the smoke cleared to find out what happened.
When the smoke cleared it revealed Monferno who's legs were shaking but he was stood triumphantly over Magneton who was unconscious. A victorious smile was on his face briefly before he also lost consciousness.
"Magneton and Monferno are unable to battle. Since Wattson has lost all three of his Pokémon the winner is Ash Ketchum."
Ash walked out on to the battlefield and gently picked Monferno up. The fire monkey opened his eyes and smiled when he saw his trainer.
"You did a great job Monferno. I'm proud of you." Monferno nodded and then passed out again. "Take a rest my friend." Ash said as he returned Monferno.
Ash walked over to Wattson who had just returned Magneton and shook his hand. Wattson handed the Dynamo Badge to Ash who quickly placed it with his other badges.
"That was a great battle Wattson. I learned a lot from it."
"Wahahahaha! I enjoyed having a battle against such a passionate trainer."
Ash then walked over to Salem and sat down next to her while they waited for Wattson to get three of his other Pokémon to battle Salem. A few minutes later he returned and stood in his trainer box, Salem quickly stood up and took her place in the opposite trainer box.
Notes
I know Chimchar has evolved pretty quickly but I think a combination of his old training, new training with Ash and his desire to not let Ash down would motivate him to evolve.
Next chapter I'll cover the end of Salem's battle and they'll leave Mauville.
Thanks for reading this chapter. I hope you enjoyed it.
Please give a review telling me what you liked/didn't like.
If you have any questions I am more than happy to answer them.
Ash:
Kanto - Raichu, Meowth, Ivysaur, Wartortle, Charizard, Pidgeot, Kingler, Muk, Tauros(x26), Snorlax, Sandshrew & Eevee (Shiny)
Johto - Totodile, Meganium, Cyndaquil, Heracross, Noctowl (Shiny), Phanpy, Tyrogue & Sneasel
Hoenn - Marshtomp, Nincada, Treecko, Zangoose, Sableye & Ralts
Sinnoh - Monferno
Pokémon on hand – Raichu, Meowth, Charizard, Meganium, Wartortle, Treecko, Sableye, Monferno, Sandshrew, Tyrogue, Ralts & Eevee
Salem:
Kanto - Pikachu & Jolteon
Johto - Chinchou & Mareep
Hoenn – Plusle & Minun
Sinnoh - Luxray
Unova - Zebstrika & Galvantula
Pokémon on hand – Pikachu, Mareep, Chinchou, Luxray, Plusle & Minun