Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon.

AN: Please keep reviewing

Chapter Eighteen

It was a bright and sunny day in the aptly named Sunnyshore City when Ash and co. arrived. The first thing they did was check into the pokémon center and relax for the rest of the day. The next day, Ash got in some training with his pokémon before heading over to the gym. When Ash and Brock walked in, they saw that a battle was already taking.

"Jolteon, use thunderbolt!"

"Flareon, use flamethrower!"

In the gym, Volkner and his best friend Flint were locked in a battle of eeveelutions. Jolteon seemed to be a bit more tired than Flareon, but both pokémon still had a lot of fight left. As the battle raged, Ash and Brock made their way over to the stands to watch the rest of the battle. Brock was calmly watching the battle. Ash, not so much. The kid was becoming very excited watching the eeveelutions battle. Knowing that he would battle next, Ash kept fidgeting in his seat.

Before long, the battle winded down. After charging at each other with a flare blitz and a wild charge, Flareon and Jolteon knocked each other out.

"Both Flareon and Jolteon are unable to battle. That means that the result of this one-on-one battle is a draw!" The referee announced.

After recalling their pokémon, Flint and Volkner approached each other and shook hands.

"You better watch out, or I'll take your title."

"Good luck with that Volkner."

The duo kept talking and didn't realize that Ash had walked up to them. Eventually, Volkner noticed, and his eyes twinkled. "Hello Ash. I take it you're here for a battle for the coin."

"Yep"

"I'll leave you guys to it then." Flint said before heading to the stands, where he sat next to Brock.

With that, Ash and Volkner went to their respective sides of the field as the referee started to announce the rules of the battle.

"This will be a three on three battle between Ash Ketchum of Pallet Town and the leader Volkner of the Sunnyshore Gym. Neither side will be allowed to make substitutions. The battle will end when one side is out of usable pokémon. Begin!

"Go, Donphan!"

"Hmm, a ground type? That won't help you against my Rotom!"

Both pokémon then appeared on the field. An Ash's side was an elephant like pokémon. Volkner had the very rare plasma pokémon.

"I didn't even realize Volkner had that pokémon!" Flint exclaimed from the stands. "And I've known him for years. He's been holding out on me."

Brock responded. "He's probably waiting for a special moment to use it."

"I guess." The conversation ended as the duo refocused on the battle.

Ground won't help me? What does that mean? Ash wondered to himself. Wait a minute! That Rotom isn't touching the ground. That means it has that ability! What was it called? Oh yeah, levitate! This is not good. At least his electric moves are also useless.

"Donphan, roll out!"

"Shadow ball!"

The two pokémon battled it out. Donphan kept rolling around, dodging all of the shadow balls. Unfortunately, he also failed to hit Rotom who kept floating out of the way.

"Ok Donphan, stop!" Donphan stopped rolling around and came to a halt.

"That was a mistake, Ash. Use shadow ball once more!"

This time, Donphan was hit. The attack sent the pokémon stumbling back a bit, but Donphan righted himself before long.

"Perfect. Now use assurance!"

"What?" Volkner exclaimed.

Donphan slammed into Rotom with the super effective move. Rotom was sent flying but slowly got up, panting.

"It's going to take more than that to beat my Rotom. Now, use signal beam!"

A rainbow like beam hit Donphan, who then started to bash his head into the ground.

Darn! Ash thought. He's confused, and I can't recall him to end the status condition. I'm just gonna have to hope that Donphan can still attack.

"Assurance!" Donphan kept bashing his head, ignoring Ash. Getting frustrated, Ash started to give a pep talk. "You can do it Donphan. Try to fight the confusion. Just hit Rotom with one more Assurance, and you'll be good to go. I know you can do this, Donphan!"

Slowly but surely, Donphan regained his senses. He then slammed into Rotom again, who was knocked out. Unfortunately, the confusion re-took control of Donphan, who then proceeded to bash his head against the ground again. Within a few moments, Donphan knocked himself out.

"Both Donphan and Rotom are unable to battle. Would both trainers please send out their second pokémon?"

"I choose you, Torterra!"

"Go, Eelektross!"

Great. More levitate! Ash thought to himself. At least Torterra also knows grass type moves.

"Razor leaf!"

"Incenerate those leaves with flamethrower!"

Now it was Ash's turn to exclaim, "What?"

The leaves didn't stand a chance as Eelektross fried them. The flames then made their way to Torterra, who was badly singed but still standing.

"Use rock climb!"

"Flamethrower!"

Surprisingly quickly, Torterra rushed at Eelektross and slammed into him. Eelektross went flying, but then got up. He then started to hit himself.

Great. Volkner thought. Now my pokémon's confused.

"This is great!" Ash shouted. "Use synthesis!" As Torterra regained health, Eelektross continued to lose health due to its confusion.

"Let's try razor leaf one more time!"

This time the leaves did connect with Eelektross. Unfortunately for Ash, the attack managed to end Eelektross's confusion.

"Excellent. Use flamethrower until you knock him out!"

Eelektross released a slew of flames from his mouth and aimed at Torterra, who was too slow to dodge.

"Energy ball!" Ash suddenly shouted.

The attack broke the flames and hit Eelektross. Now both pokémon were injured and tired. The next successful attack would end the battle.

"Rock climb!"

"Flamethrower!"

Torterra rushed at Eelektross as fire was thrown his way. Unfortunately, Torterra never reached his target. Flamethrower defeated him before he could hit Eelektross.

"Torterra is unable to battle! The winner is Eelektross! The challenger is done to his last pokémon!"

"Return Torterra. You did great! Now, I choose you, Gabite!"

"Another ground type Ash?" Volkner shook his head. "It won't help you."

"You wanna bet?"

"Dragon claw, Eelektross!"

"Knock it out first with draco meteor!"

Hmm. Flint thought to himself. That Gabite knows the most powerful dragon type move already! Volkner's gonna have his work cut out for him.

Gabite absorbed energy and then released it. Meteors filled with draconic energy hit Eelektross, knocking him out.

"Eelektross is unable to battle! The winner is Gabite! Leader Volkner is now down to his last pokémon!"

"You defeated my Eelektross. Unfortunately for you, like leaf storm, draco meteor gets weaker every time you use it. It won't help you beat my trump card. Go, Electivire!"

A thunderbolt pokémon took to the field and released electricity everywhere. It bounced off of Gabite harmlessly.

"No more pokémon with levitate?"

"I don't need levitate anymore. Use ice punch!"

"Oh no! Counter with brick break!"

As Electivire launched his ice cold fist, Gabite countered with a glowing claw. The fighting type move repelled the attack, but Gabite still took some damage.

"You can't beat me!" Volkner shouted. "Use ice punch until Gabite submits!"

"Keep deflecting the attacks with brick break!"

Electivire rained down punch after punch at Gabite, who deftly blocked every attack, at first. Over time, the ice was getting to him, and so Gabite missed one punch which ended up slamming into his chest. The attack sent Gabite flying. Gabite struggled getting up. Just as the referee started to raise his flag, Gabite started to glow. Ash couldn't believe it. Volkner didn't want to believe it. Flint was smirking. Before long, a massive Garchomp stood in Gabite's place. The mighty dragon released a powerful roar.

"Yes! Now Garchomp, earthquake!"

"Grr. Counter with your earthquake!"

The gym started to shake as the two pokémon started their attacks. Pikachu held on tightly to Ash, while Brock and Flint gripped their hand rests tightly. Volkner was unflappable, and Ash was holding onto his hat.

After the attack, both pokémon glared at each other before Electivire slowly collapsed.

"Electivire is unable to battle! The winner is Garchomp! That means that the winner of the battle is Ash from Pallet Town!"

Ash ran to and hugged his Garchomp. The pokémon returned the embrace before gently biting Ash's head. After recalling Electivire, Volkner walked up to Ash with a yellow coin in his hand.

"This is the Electric Coin. You have earned it." Volkner said as he passed the coin to Ash.

"I agree." Flint said as he walked up to Ash and Volkner. Brock wasn't far behind the elite four member. "That was a great battle, and I'd like to battle that Garchomp one day."

"After the Cup, Flint?"

"Perfect. I want to be able to say that I was finally able to beat a Garchomp. Nobody needs to know it wasn't Cynthia's."

Garchomp growled at Flint. He wasn't happy hearing that Flint thought he'd be a push-over.

"Not that you'd be easy to beat or anything!" Flint hastily said as he rubbed his head.

"Ignore this jokester." Volkner spoke up. "You fought valiantly, and you managed to beat my abilities. I think you'll go far in the Cup. Just tell me, how many coins do you now have?"

"Eight," Ash responded. "I just have the Unova leaders to go."

"I wish you luck then. You might want to hurry though. The ferry for Unova leaves tomorrow, and there won't be another one for a week."

"Ok. Thanks for the heads up." Brock finally spoke up.

"Well, you guys better be going now." Volkner said.

"Bye." Ash said as he recalled Garchomp. With that, Ash and co. left the gym to head to the pokémon center. The next day, they boarded the ferry for Castelia City in the Unova region.

-Line Break-

After several hours of flying, Gowly and his pokémon finally arrived at Pokémon Isle. After recalling Salamence, Gowly and Lucario rushed into the building and headed towards the medical wing. The duo sat there with Gardevoir waiting for Mewtwo to awaken. Before long, he did. Gowly was the first to notice.

"Now, before you attack or flee, I just want to talk for a few moments."

The Commissioner was met with silence. Both Lucario and Gardevoir were getting nervous, though Gowly remained calm.

Mewtwo eventually responded: You have five minutes.