Time for more Gym Battles. And yes, our heroes will be heading to Mahogany Town after this. Team Shadow's up to something big, as you already know. Our heroes will show up to stop them soon.
They'll need to find their hideout though. Of course, Sarah happens to know where it is. Perhaps they could ask her about it? Then again, she probably wouldn't spill the beans to them...at least, not on purpose.
And yes, Sarah has caught a shiny Gyarados. I don't think shiny Pokemon have appeared in this fanfic duology before. But rest assured that I know about them.
Chapter 30: Iron Fist
Sarah scanned her new Gyarados with her Pokedex.
However, she noticed something that was strange.
"Hey, that's weird, the Gyarados in the Pokedex is blue..." noted Sarah.
Totodile wondered what was going on.
Sarah's Gyarados gazed at her reflection in the water.
She was surprised at what she saw.
For some strange reason her scales were not blue...but were red.
What was going on?
Perhaps it had something to do with the strange signal that had caused her to evolve. It had been a sudden evolution, so perhaps she still had characteristics that were associated with Magikarp.
However, she still felt way stronger than she did back when when she wasn't evolved. And she was still the same height as a regular Gyarados.
Were other Gyarados going to treat her differently? She would stick out like a purple Pikachu living among a group of other Pikachu.
"I guess this must be a Gyarados of a different color...well, I can live with that." noted Sarah.
Well, at least one person wouldn't.
Totodile suddenly got an idea.
"Totodile!" exclaimed Totodile. What if they went on a ride on the Gyarados?
"I don't know...I'm not sure that would be safe..." remarked Sarah.
Togepi looked worried.
However, she quickly realized that Gyarados was not hostile towards her trainer.
Perhaps it would be safe.
"Here we go!" exclaimed Sarah.
Meanwhile...
"So, you're the Gym Leader?" asked Lucy.
Jasmine nodded. It had been unfortunate that Amphy had gotten sick, but at least the electric Pokemon was feeling better now.
Now she could finally get back to her job as Gym Leader.
For some strange reason, she reminded Lucy of Ned.
However, Ned wasn't a steel type specialist. He had a variety of different Pokemon.
Of course, so did she. Though she preferred cute Pokemon. Chris preferred tough Pokemon. She was excited when she encountered a wild Onix.
Well, she was ready to handle Jasmine.
She sent out her Ponyta.
"Ponyta!" exclaimed the fire Pokemon.
A fire Pokemon seemed appropriate considering that the gym leader liked to use steel types.
Now that she thought of it, the Gym Leader in Mahogany Town happened to use ice type Pokemon as well. Perhaps she should bring Ponyta to that gym battle too.
It was kind of weird considering Mahogany Town wasn't known to be particularly chilly.
Jasmine sent out Magneton.
"Magneton!" shouted the electric Pokemon.
Since Ponyta was so speedy, she got to attack first.
"Ponyta!" shouted the fire Pokemon.
She shot a Flame Wheel at Magneton.
"Magneton!" shouted the electric Pokemon. That heat certainly was dreadful.
Strangely enough, Ponyta were actually safe to ride...as long as they allowed you to. They had a surprising amount of control regarding their flames. Otherwise, Santa would never use them to pull his sleigh.
However, he decided that he would let his elves ride the Ponyta while he used the Stantler. Stantler were much easier to find in the cold environment that he called home.
Magneton attempted to zap Ponyta, but she was too fast.
She hit Magneton again, and it fainted. Its three eyes started to swirl.
Even working together, they still couldn't beat the horse Pokemon.
"You're off to a good start..." noted Jasmine.
She sent out Skarmory next.
"Skarmory!" shouted the bird Pokemon, talons outstretched.
Elsewhere, Ned was training his Pokemon.
Did he have a Pokemon that he could use that would have an advantage against Jasmine?
Perhaps he should check.
He then remembered that he had an Arcanine.
That seemed like the ideal Pokemon for him to use.
However, he would still need to watch out for Steelix.
Steelix was part ground type.
But he had another idea.
Maybe he could have Seel fight against Steelix. Seel happened to know some water techniques.
Fortunately, his Pokemon were ready for another battle.
He noticed that Johnny and his gang were nearby. It seemed that they too had decided to come to Johto.
"I guess some of the Trainers we've battled in the past are following us around...unintentionally or not." thought Ned.
Perhaps he should battle them.
"Oh, hey. What do you want?" asked Johnny.
"Are you breaking the law again?" inquired Ned. If so he was going to have to put a stop to it.
"Nah, we're just chilling. We don't spend every day causing trouble, you know." answered the biker leader. Then again, they did enjoy causing trouble.
"Really?" asked the boy.
"Well, we tipped a trash can on the way here, but that's about it." noted one of the members of his gang.
Still, even if they weren't breaking the law this time (aside from one count of littering), Ned looked like he would be fun to fight.
The biker leader sent out his Tentacruel.
Ned sent out Raichu.
Raichu zapped Tentacruel.
"Tentacruel!" exclaimed the Tentacruel. He knew from experience that water happened to conduct electricity.
In retaliation, he attempted to wrap Raichu.
However, his speed came in handy.
Tentacruel was unable to grab onto Raichu.
"Why can't I wrap him?" asked Johnny.
Raichu launched another Thunderbolt at Tentacruel.
Tentacruel started to feel rather dizzy.
"Tentacruel..." murmured the jellyfish Pokemon.
However, he slapped Raichu with one of his tentacles.
"Raichu!" shouted the electric Pokemon, rubbing his orange face.
Fortunately for him, he wasn't poisoned, though it was plausible that he could have been. There was a reason that other water Pokemon tried to stay on a Tentacruel's good side. It was a smart idea to stay on a Tentacool's good side as well, though they weren't as aggressive.
Unfortunately for Tentacruel, touching Raichu wasn't such a good idea.
Suddenly, he became paralyzed.
"What happened?" asked Johnny.
"I guess the static electricity is starting to kick in..." noted Ned.
Johnny tightened his fist.
Raichu hit Tentacruel with Thunderbolt, and he fainted.
"How did you get so strong?" asked Johnny.
He decided to take his leave.
Ponyta launched a Flame Wheel at Skarmory.
Skarmory fainted.
"Skarmory..." murmured the steel Pokemon. Not even her high defense could shield her from Ponyta's fire attacks.
One more Pokemon and Lucy would have her sixth Johto gym badge.
"You're doing well." noted Jasmine. Despite her lack of confidence, she had done well as a Gym Leader.
Perhaps she underestimated her own abilities.
ooked. Though strangely enough there were a lot of Pokemon that were stronger than they looked...like Lucy's Clefairy for one.
However, she was feeling the urge to evolve all of a sudden.
Well, all that was left was to send out Steelix.
"Steelix!" shouted the steel Pokemon.
Ponyta was worried.
Steelix tunneled underneath the ground.
Ponyta began to look around, wondering where her opponent was.
She was about to find out.
Steelix then resurfaced and struck Ponyta.
Unfortunately, Ponyta fell off her feet. Since her greatest advantage was her legs, she didn't exactly have the upper hand.
This gave Steelix an opportunity to attack again.
She struck Ponyta with Rock Slide.
This was enough to make her faint. Ponytas may be fast, but they always had to watch out for the occasional rock slides whenever they decided to gallop out the mountain.
There were also waterfalls, but if they were hot enough they could simply cause it to evaporate. It did make them feel cold though.
"Ponyta..." murmured the fainted horse Pokemon.
Lucy recalled her fainted fire Pokemon.
Unfortunately, Steelix was a bit too much for Ponyta. Though it might have had to do with the fact that Ponyta had already battled two of Jasmine's Pokemon.
"Ponyta..." murmured the pony Pokemon. She may have been fast, but there was no way that she could have penetrated Steelix's ironclad defenses. It was time for another Pokemon to step in.
It looked as if she was going to have to change tactics.
Lucy sent out Poliwag.
Poliwag shot out bubbles at Steelix.
She recoiled from the bubbles.
However, she dug underground in retaliation.
Poliwag wondered where Steelix had gone.
But she quickly heard the sound of tunneling.
Quickly, she leapt out of the way.
She then fired more bubbles at Steelix.
This angered Steelix, who decided to whack Poliwag with her tail.
She was sent flying. Unfortunately, Poliwag was not exactly a heavyweight Pokemon...unlike her opponent.
"You alright?" asked Lucy.
Poliwag was feeling rather woozy. Steelix was exactly as strong as she looked.
But on the lighter side of things, she was starting to feel like an evolution was coming on.
She decided to focus to see if she would evolve.
Which she did.
"It looks like it's your lucky day." noted Lucy.
Poliwag was now a Poliwhirl.
"Hey, you have arms now..." spoke the girl.
Hopefully that would make her life a lot easier.
On the other hand, Poliwhirl's tail had inexplicably disappeared.
Poliwhirl wondered where it had gone.
Then again, she actually DIDN'T need arms in order to swim. It might not have made a lot of sense, but that was just how it was for Poliwags. Their tails were enough.
Deciding not to dwell on where her tail had gone, Poliwhirl flexed her muscles.
Fortunately for Poliwhirls, they didn't need to worry about being on land, though they did prefer being in a watery environment. They had ways to keep themselves soaked.
She then hit Steelix with a Water Pulse attack.
Steelix fainted. Poliwag's newfound strength was simply too much for her.
Speaking of which, there had been a new evolution to Poliwag that had been discovered recently. Apparently it was a monarch among Poliwags. Whenever it croaked loudly, Poliwags and Poliwhirls would flock towards it. She didn't know the details though.
"Steelix..." murmured the steel Pokemon. It was rather ironic that such a large Pokemon had fallen to a Pokemon that was short of stature...though her opponent had grown bigger once she had evolved into Poliwhirl.
Then again, Pokemon Trainers shouldn't judge a Pokemon's strength simply based on their height. A Diglett may only be eight inches tall but they were still super effective against steel types.
"That was a good Gym Battle. Good luck with the last two gyms." noted Jasmine.
Though to be honest, she didn't feel like visiting Mahogany Town at the moment.
According to the news, something strange was happening at the Lake Of Rage. There were a lot more Gyarados than normal. The fishermen there hadn't seen anything quite like it.
Nobody wanted to surf there either. They were worried that they might get attacked.
And unfortunately, it had complicated their efforts to fetch Magikarp. It was a shame, since they were ideal for beginning fishers.
Gyarados happened to frighten her.
Jake realized that since Jasmine was a steel type specialist, Grimer wasn't going to have an easy time at the gym.
He was going to have to try something else.
But what Pokemon should he choose?
He then remembered that he had Machamp.
She would be a good choice.
However, steel Pokemon had a tendency to have high defenses. Some of them did, anyway. Machamp might not be able to take down all down by herself.
It might also be a good idea to bring in a Pokemon that was a good special attacker.
Oh wait, that was right. He also had Quilava.
Quilava had very good special attack. He was also good at speed. He actually reminded him of Lucy's Ponyta now that he thought of it. Though since he belonged to Professor Elm, he probably hadn't been raised by Rapidash.
Perhaps he WAS ready to face the gym leader.
Since Jasmine had a Steelix, maybe he could save Blastoise to deal with her.
As Ned approached the gym, Jerry suddenly left.
"Noooo! I can't believe I got creamed by a little girl!" exclaimed Jerry.
Jerry left in a huff.
"I guess his battle with Jasmine didn't go too well." noted Ned.
It seemed that Jasmine was the type of Gym Leader that he underestimated.
Then again, he underestimated his opponents a lot.
Shrugging, he decided to fight Jasmine again.
Maybe he would be ready to face her this time.
"Are you ready for our rematch?" asked Jasmine. Hopefully if he lost again he would handle things better than Jerry did. Some Pokemon Trainers were real sore losers.
Earlier she had sent Jerry packing. Though she hadn't known him for long, he seemed rather...unpleasant.
Golem hit Magneton with Earthquake.
Magneton fainted almost instantaneously.
"That was fast." noted Ned.
"Yeah..." agreed Jasmine.
Ground types were a Magnemite and a Magneton's worst nightmare.
Golem hurled a Rock Slide at Skarmory.
Skarmory was injured.
However, she hit Golem with Steel Wing.
Unfortunately, rock Pokemon were weak against steel.
Golem started to feel woozy.
However, he managed to hit Skarmory with another Rock Slide.
Skarmory hit Golem with another Steel Wing, and she fainted.
However, Skarmory was starting to feel tired.
"Skarmory..." murmured the steel Pokemon. It looked as if she was going to faint soon.
Ned sent out Raichu next.
He opened up by zapping Skarmory with Thunderbolt.
Skarmory screeched.
She attempted to hit Raichu with Steel Wing, but he ducked underneath it.
He fired another bolt of electricity at Skarmory.
Skarmory screeched once again.
She pecked Raichu several times in retaliation.
He had a type advantage, luckily, but it still hurt.
However, Raichu managed to zap Skarmory once again, and she fainted.
Realizing that Raichu wouldn't be able to harm Steelix with electric attacks (as she was part ground-type), Ned switched Pokemon.
He sent out Seel.
"Seel seel seel!" shouted the seal Pokemon.
He was hoping to be fighting in a cooler environment, but he could live with the arena with he was in.
Jasmine sent out Steelix.
"Steelix!" shouted the steel Pokemon.
Seel felt a bit worried.
However, he decided that he would fight against the steel Pokemon.
Seel hit Steelix with Water Pulse.
Steelix recoiled, but retaliated by using Sunny Day.
All of a sudden, it started to get sunny...even though they happened to be indoors.
"Is it just me, or did it get hot in here?" asked Ned.
Did someone forget to turn on the air conditioning?
Steelix herself didn't seem bothered by the heat. Then again, she DID dig close to the Earth's core.
Seel was feeling sweaty as well.
However, it had a counter for that.
Since he wanted to cool off, Seel suddenly began to do a dance.
"Why are you dancing?" asked Ned.
Admittedly, Seel had some nice moves, but it didn't seem like the time to do so.
However, it suddenly began to rain.
Steelix did not approve of this weather.
Seel then followed with a Surf attack.
As Steelix was weakened by the rain, the attack was devastating.
Steelix fainted. How exactly did she lose to such a cute Pokemon? He hadn't even evolved into a Dewgong yet, though he WAS getting there.
Well, it took a lot of strength to swim in subzero temperatures. Perhaps it wasn't so surprising that she had lost.
"Congratulations. You managed to win this time." noted the Gym Leader. It would be a shame if Ned lost twice.
Ned nodded.
Now he had six gym badges.
"Just be careful when you go to Mahogany Town." said Jasmine.
Aside from the Gyarados, some Team Shadow Grunts had been seen in the outskirts of the town.
Now that she thought of it, nobody knew for sure where their hideout was. What exactly were they doing there?
Perhaps they weren't completely unrelated.
"What is going on out there?" questioned Ned.
Jasmine shrugged.
As he left, the local weatherman wondered why the weather had changed so suddenly.
"Are you ready to go to Mahogany Town?" asked Chris.
"I guess...but hasn't there been strange occurrences at the town recently?" inquired the boy. The citizens of the town were feeling kind of worried. They were hearing a crazy sound on their radio. It just wasn't normal.
Rumor had it that Lance, the regional Pokemon Champion himself had considered coming to the town to investigate. He heard a rumor that Team Shadow were up to something big this time.
"I can live with that." answered Chris.
Though to be honest, she was curious what was going on herself.
Perhaps they would find out soon. Fortunately, Ned happened to have a Gyarados of his own so perhaps they would be safe in case anything happened.
"What do you think is going on with the Magikarp at the Lake of Rage?" asked Lucy. It wasn't normal for them to all evolve at once. In fact, Gyarados were rare at the Lake of Rage.
The sailors at Olivine City were all talking about it. It had been on the news.
"I don't know, but I suspect that someone may have found a way to force them to evolve..." questioned Jake. Perhaps it was the work of mad scientists. There had been scientists working for Team Rocket, trying to find ways to make Pokemon more powerful to aid them in taking over the world.
"But why?" asked the female Pokemon trainer.
"Well, Ned's Magikarp became far stronger once it evolved into a Gyarados." Perhaps someone had that in mind..." noted the preteen boy.
Jerry had a Gyarados once, but it had turned into him. There were multiple reasons why trainers should take good care of their Pokemon, but one of them was the fact that they could potentially turn on their trainer and attack them. Gyarados was anything but an exception to that.
The fact that they were making so many Gyarados was what worried him.
Now that Lucy thought of it, that did make sense. She wondered if the Magikarp Salesman was behind it somehow.
Still, she thought it was wrong that Pokemon were being forced to evolve even though they weren't ready for it.
She doubted that Clefairy would enjoy evolving so suddenly. What if they built a moon ray and used it on her...or something along those lines?
Just for the record, our heroes will be facing Team Shadow before they face Pryce. Fighting evil is kind of required for the plots of Pokemon. They always seem to be blocking the way to the gyms.
I bet you're surprised that a Gym Leader with a personality like Jasmine's has a Pokemon like Steelix. Am I right? Still, she is the Gym Leader of steel types.
Poliwag's a Poliwhirl now. However, she may not be evolving into the Pokemon that you're expecting her to evolve into.