Jason's POV
I stood, looking at Ritchie from across the battlefield.
"The battle between the challenger, Jason, and the gym leader, Ritchie, will now begin. This will be a three-on-three battle and will end when one's side Pokemon are unable to battle. Begin!"
"Sandslash, go!" Ritchie cried.
"Tangela, let's go!" I cried.
"Go ahead, Jason. Let's see what you've got." Ritchie said.
"Tangela, use Vine Whip!" I cried.
"Use Swift!" said Ritchie.
"Tangela, block it!"
Most of the Swift stars was stopped, but a few did hit Tangela.
"Impressive, Jason. Sandslash, use Dig!"
"Be alert, Tangela." I said as I watched for any signs of where Sandslash would appear. I had a strategy all planned out, but I had to wait to use it.
"San!" Sandslash cried, popping out of the ground to Tangela's right.
"Vine Whip!" I cried.
As Sandslash neared Tangela, the vines wrapped around Sandslash's body. With one quick motion, Sandslash was slammed into the ground.
"Use Absorb!" I cried while Sandslash was still down. Without hesitating, Tangela used Absorb. The vines started draining its energy.
"Slash at the vines!" Ritchie cried. Sandslash managed to successfully slash the vines, but a good amount of damage had been dealt.
"Use Dig!"
"Be alert...Behind you!" I cried as Sandslash appeared. My warning wasn't fast enough. Tangela didn't have enough time to dodge and got hit.
"Tangela, use Power Whip!"
"Dodge it!" Ritchie cried as Tangela's vines started to glow purple.
Sandslash started to burrow underground, but Tangela was quicker. Tangela's vines hit Sandslash, knocking it away from the hole that it had started to make.
"Sand!"
Sandslash got up, covered in scratches and breathing heavily. It wasn't over yet.
"Use Slash!"
"Dodge!" I cried.
Tangela went to dodge, but got hit.
"Slam!" I cried while Sandslash was still close by. Tangela got up and ran at Sandslash.
"Dodge!" Sandslash jumped.
"Up!" I cried.
Tangela followed Sandslash and successfully hit it with Slam while in the air. Sandslash slammed into the field and Tangela landed on the field.
"Sandslash is unable to battle! Tangela wins!" the ref cried.
"Impressive, Jason. Your Tangela is strong." Ritchie said. "Dugtrio, go!"
"Trio! Trio! Trio!"
"Use Dig!" Ritchie commanded. He was wasting no time.
"Tangela, be ready to use Absorb." I said, watching for any sign of Dugtrio.
Tangela cried out, getting hit directly by Dig. Dugtrio had appeared directly under where Tangela was standing. Tangela slammed down into the field, struggling to get up.
"Use Absorb!" I cried.
"Dodge and use Sand Tomb!"
Absorb missed and sand trapped Tangela. Tangela was trying to get free, but couldn't.
"Calm down, Tangela." I said.
"Slash!"
"Vine Whip!"
Dugtrio struck first and Tangela's vines missed.
The sand had broken thanks to the impact and Tangela fell forward, fainted.
"Thanks, Tangela. You did great. Take a rest." I said.
It was time to use my secret move that I had thought of yesterday after seeing Adam's battle.
"Graveler, let's go!" I cried.
"Use Sand Tomb!" yelled Ritchie.
"Rollout!" I cried.
Hopefully, the rolling would make Sand Tomb ineffective. Graveler rolled through the sand and slammed into Dugtrio.
"Impressive, Jason. Dugtrio, use Dig!"
I smirked. This is exactly what I wanted him to use. "Graveler, it's time to use Earthquake!" I cried. I regained my balance as the ground shook uncontrollably.
"Trio! Trio! Trio!" Dugtrio cried, appearing from under the ground.
I took in the way Dugtrio looked. Earthquake had done a lot of damage to it.
"I must say, Jason, I wasn't expecting that." Ritchie said.
"Earthquake does twice as much damage if the opposing Pokemon is using Dig! Now Graveler, use Stone Edge!"
"Dodge it!"
Dugtrio went underground and the rocks flew over the hole.
"Earthquake, Graveler!"
"Dugtrio, get out!" Ritchie cried.
The main way that his Pokemon avoided attacks was by going underground. Even without using Dig, I could still hurt Dugtrio with Earthquake while it's just avoiding an attack.
Dugtrio came out of the ground. Once again, it had received a good amount of damage.
"Use Slash!"
"Dodge it!" I cried.
Graveler couldn't dodge in time.
"Use Rollout!" I cried. Dugtrio took the attack head-on, not having time to dodge. Dugtrio stared at Graveler before it fainted.
"Dugtrio is unable to battle! Graveler wins!" the ref cried.
"You've trained Graveler well, Jason. Time to see how you do against Marowak. Go!" Ritchie cried.
I knew that Marowak relied on its bone to attack. I couldn't use attacks that were close range, I would need to use long range attacks.
"Use Rollout!"
"Jump into the air!"
Marowak jumped and avoided it. Graveler rolled out of the attack and I saw Ritchie smirk.
"Graveler, move!" I cried
"Bone Rush!"
I watched as Graveler got hit multiple times by the bone.
"Now use Bonemerang!"
"Dodge!" I cried.
Graveler was still dazed from Bone Rush and got hit by the attack.
"Finish it with Headbutt." Ritchie said.
"Dodge!"
Graveler was able to dodge this time, but I quickly noticed that Marowak was behind Graveler now.
"Bone Rush!" Marowak had speed on its side. Graveler is a very slow Pokemon.
"Get away using Rollout!" I cried. Graveler was able to use Rollout and got to the other side of the field.
"Bonemerang!"
"No, Graveler!" I cried.
Graveler looked at me and then fell forward.
"Graveler is unable to battle! Marowak wins!" the ref cried.
"Good job, Graveler. Take a rest." I said, returning my Pokemon.
I removed my final Pokeball. It was up to Golduck now. "Golduck, go!" I cried.
"Marowak, use Bonemerang!" Ritchie cried.
"Dodge it! Then use Water Gun!"
Golduck dodged the first attack and successfully hit Marowak once before getting hit by the bone from behind.
"Use Aqua Jet!" I cried.
"Dodge it!"
Golduck shot towards Marowak, and at the last second, Marowak dodged.
"Use Headbutt!"
"Jump!" I cried when Marowak was close.
Golduck jumped into the air.
"Hydro Pump!" Golduck spun and shot the attack directly at Marowak. Golduck landed near Marowak, who was getting up.
"Bone Rush!" Ritchie shouted. Golduck got hit before I could even finish saying "dodge" and shook his head, dazed.
"Bonemerang!"
"Golduck, use Confusion on the bone." I said.
I saw Ritchie's expression, he looked shocked. Golduck looked at the bone and I hoped that this would work. I saw a contest move once and the coordinator had frisbees and they had their Pokemon use Confusion on the frisbee to move it.
The bone was stopped in the air and slung back towards Marowak.
"Grab your bone!" Ritchie screamed. Marowak went to grab it, but Golduck had control of it and jerked it away at the last second and slammed it into Marowak.
"I must say, that's very impressive. I've never seen that done before, Jason."
"Thanks,"
Marowak looked like it wouldn't last much longer.
"Golduck, use Hydro Pump!"
"Counter it!"
Marowak held its bone up and stood its ground against the water. It slid backwards from the force, but the Hydro Pump attack ended.
"Bone Rush!"
"Confusion!" I cried.
Marowak ran towards Golduck, but Confusion stopped it in its tracks. Marowak was raised into the air and then slammed into the ground. Marowak didn't get up.
"Marowak is unable to battle! Golduck wins! Which means the challenger, Jason, is the winner!" the ref cried.
"Thanks, Golduck. Rest now." I said.
I had done it. I had beaten Ritchie. I was getting my eighth gym badge. I was going to get to compete in the Pokemon League!
"Well Jason, that was a great battle. I present you with the Earth Badge." Ritchie said, extending the cushion.
Right as I picked up the badge, the doors opened and Ash walked in.
"I just won my final badge." I said.
"Congratulations to both of you. You both beat Ritchie on your first try. Even I couldn't do that." Ash said.
"Shouldn't you be resting?" Adam asked his dad.
"I got released from the hospital and headed here since you were all here already. I'm not fully recovered, but I'm well enough to go home."
"Glad to see you on your feet now, Ash. I wish both of you boys the best of luck challenging the Pokemon League. If you'll excuse me, I have to get ready for another battle. Bye." Ritchie said.
"Bye,"
Adam's POV
We walked out of the gym and I looked at everyone. "Well, we have all of our badges and ribbons, and dad, you're out of the hospital now. There's only one thing left to do."
I paused and looked at him. "It's time to go home and see everyone again." I said, smiling.
My dad smiled, too. I knew that he had to be thinking of seeing my mom again, along with Gary, Leaf, and his Pokemon. It had been a long time since he'd seen anyone.
"I can't wait to see mom's face when she sees you." I said.
My dad nodded his head and faced Michelle.
"Michelle, don't come with us." he said.
She looked confused and slightly hurt.
Okay...why was he saying for her to not come with us? I looked at Jason and he looked confused, too.
"Go home to Cerulean City and get your mom. Get your mom to come to Pallet Town with you." he said.
Of course! Misty would want to see him. After all, she was worried about him being missing when we first met her.
"How will I get her to come? I mean, I won't be with Adam and Jason when I come home. Wouldn't that make her curious?" she asked.
"Don't mention that I'm back. Just tell her that there's someone in Pallet Town that wants to see her again." said my dad.
She walked over to Jason and I and hugged us. "Okay, bye, guys. I'll see you later. I'll be in Pallet Town, back with my mom as soon as I can."
"Bye,"
"Bye,"
She waved over her shoulder and walked towards the path to Cerulean City while my dad, Jason, and myself headed towards Pallet Town. I couldn't wait until we got home.
I did it. I finally found him and now we're heading home. Only one more step to go. How's mom gonna react? I bet she'll be happy...no, happy is an understatement. She's going to be...Arceus knows what since she's missed him so much.
I looked at my dad and his eyes looked thoughtful. It was great to have him back. He's safe now and back for good. We walked in a comfortable silence.
As we walked, I realized that I was probably going to get an ear full from mom about being in danger since I had challenged Team Rocket because they had captured dad. It'll be worth it, though. Because dad's back. My family isn't broken anymore.
Ash's POV
At long last, we stood on top of the hill overlooking Pallet Town. It's a sight that I never get tired of seeing.
After eight months...I'm finally returning home. All thanks to Adam, Jason, and Michelle. I can't thank them enough for putting so much effort into finding me and never giving up. I wonder if anything has changed? And how is everyone going to react?
If Gary still acts like how he used to, he's going to make a joke, but be glad to see me. Leaf will most likely hug me until she believes it's really me. I can't even imagine how Dawn's going to react when she sees me. I can't wait to see her again, to hold her. I've missed her so much. I thought, looking down at my wedding ring.
"Well boys, let's go home." I said to Adam and Jason. We walked down the hill and into Pallet Town.
Author's Note: With Jason winning his final gym badge, the kids can at last enter the Pokemon League and Grand Festival.
And after a long, long time, Ash is back home in Pallet Town. How will his friends and family react when they see him again?
Stay tuned for the big reunion with Ash in the next chapter of Pokemon NG!