Ash stifled a yawn in the mostly empty gym, eyes on Leaf's rematch. Forest, who was against a rhyhorn, seemed a lot stronger now, with his bulb having grown bigger. He was fighting Rhyhorn at a distance, using Razor Leaf and Vine Whip to keep it away. Rhyhorn on the other hand tried to get in close with his Horn Attacks and Bulldozes.
Leaf's eyes narrowed as Rhyhorn came charging in again. This time, Forest waited until the last second where he used Vine Whip to redirect Rhyhorn's direction of charge into a wall. He then proceeded to rain down Razor Leafs and Vine Whips unforgivingly until Rhyhorn's armour cracked and it fainted.
Brock nodded approvingly and sent out his Onix. Leaf wasted no time with the newly learnt Poison Powder. Onix breathed in a bit before quickly diving underground. Leaf's eyes darted warily around, before the ground beneath Forest bursted from a green-yellow Dragon Breath. Forest collapsed but got back up quickly to face the exposed Onix.
"Underground!" Brock commanded in fear of powder attacks but Leaf didn't let him.
"Hold it down with Vine Whip! Powder it with everything you've got!" Forest's vines gripped onto Onix's tail as it tried to dive down.
Forest was dragged along but not before he fired Poison Powders, Sleep Powders, and Leech Seeds. Onix swung his tail and Forest was dragged along the floor and the air, before finally being taken down, never releasing his grip. Leaf grimaced then smiled, whispering at Forest's pokeball.
Ash stared curiously at the new pokeball she was holding but grinned when a male nidoran appeared. So that's why she went ahead to the next route!
The battle commenced, and Nidoran darted around the battlefield, avoiding Rock Throws and Tackles. This continued on for a while, causing Ash to wonder why she was stalling. Ritchie, who was next to him, quickly pointed out that Onix was slowing down from the Powders and Leech Seeds from before.
When Onix became significantly slower in his attacks, Leaf took the opportunity and had Nidoran use Double Kick. It hit Onix at the base of his horn who reeled back in pain, keening over and fainting.
Leaf pumped her fist and called over Nidoran for some treats, making sure to not get poked by her poisonous spikes.
Brock and Leaf met in the middle of the field, where he handed her the Boulder Badge and TM39 Rock Tomb. He appraised her rapid growth and resilience, and her potential as a trainer. Leaf blushed the entire time, even wiping away some tears at the end. Ash smiled at that, she had been so unsure about her path but now, the irrefutable proof that she belonged was here.
Brock had to cut his assessment short as the next challenger was waiting, so after a final piece of valuable advice, he called for the next challenger and the trio left for lunch.
Rule 124: Quick-Switching - Rule 37 states that a trainer must always have a pokemon present on the field unless it has fainted, or is being switched out when neither are attacking. The only exception to that rule is quick-switching. Since a pokemon must be on the field, the trainer is allowed to switch even during being attacked if 1. Right as the pokemon reverts to energy state and is entering, the new pokemon has to be released, and 2. The pokemon released must be in the same position as the previous pokemon, otherwise this is a violation of Rule 41: A pokemon may not be returned in order to avoid the attack, if done so, trainer loses a point.
After a quick lunch of ramen, it was Ritchie's turn. Ash and Leaf started discussing Ritchie's strategy. None of his team was effective against ground or rock types. In fact it was quite the opposite. Yet Ritchie was confident, meaning he had some plan on what to do.
It started with Ritchie's newly evolved metapod, who quickly fired off String Shots everywhere, including at the opposing Geodude. The opponent got rid of them with Rollout, before charging at Metapod. Metapod used String Shot to move around the battlefield and this went on for a while, as Metapod spewed String Shots and Geodude tried to get close.
Suddenly, a Rock Throw got closer and closer, about to hit. Ritchie fingered Metapod's pokeball, and at the last second, quick-switching Metapod with Charmeleon. Everyone's eyes widened at that, for a rookie to be able to do it without messing up was impressive. Charmeleon's claws shined with Metal Claw as she slashed the rock.
Geodude charged in but Charmeleon didn't move. Her claws shined and clamped onto Geodude as she slowly stopped it in its tracks. She slammed it into the ground and Metal Clawed multiple times, severely injuring the geodude and causing it to faint.
Ash and Leaf cheered at the victory while Charmeleon growled in satisfaction. Ritchie sighed in relief as he wiped the sweat from his forehead. Brock smirked at that, and let out his Onix.
"Do you remember our talk at the museum, Ritchie?" Brock asked as the battle started.
"Yes sir, I do," Onix launched Rock Throws at Charmeleon, who dodged or slashed them with Metal Claw.
"Then you'll remember what I said about the bond between the trainer and their pokemon."
"That it's a partnership, not a human using tools. I'm sorry but I still don't agree with you, how can we be equals when we're so different?" Charmeleon hesitated in movement, resulting in taking a Tackle.
"Quite simple really. Why are you so tired?" Charmeleon ducked under a Rock Throw.
"Wait—what?" Everyone in the room turned to Ritchie and noticed his heavy breathing and tense posture.
Ritchie realised this as well, and seemed to stay still momentarily. Brock signalled for the battle to be paused as Ritchie was lost in his trance.
"If you are right, why does it look like you yourself have been fighting? After all, Charmeleon is just a —"
"She's not a tool," Ritchie's eyes widened as he hit his own head, "I'm tired and so fired up because we're partners. I might not be physically fighting but in other ways, I am, right there with Charmeleon!"
"Took you long enough!" Ash called out grinning.
"Yeah," Ritchie chuckled, "Ash has been telling it to me but I never listened, that guy's much smarter than I am." He looked at Charmeleon, who had been intensely watching Ritchie. "I'm sorry buddy, you've been so amazing, yet I never truly believed in you and thought of you as inferior. I know I can't change the past Charmeleon, but I can change my attitude now.
"I'm ready Brock—no—we're ready," Brock nodded and the battle resumed.
"Charmeleon! Flamethrower the string!" The strings that were everywhere on the battlefield and on Onix, suddenly caught on fire, rapidly turning the rocky terrain into a landscape of fire,
Onix, who was tied up in fiery strings, charged forwards with a Tackle, slamming Charmeleon again. Charmeleon winced at the pain and Ash quickly realised she couldn't handle more of those.
Onix Tackled again and at the last second, Ritchie quick-switched Charmeleon for Metapod, yelling "Harden to the max! I believe in you!"
Metapod's body shined and hardened as Onix slammed into him. The cocoon soared to the other side of the battlefield, slamming into the wall. Onix advanced slowly but something happened.
Metapod started glowing bright. Everybody's eyes widened as the body started morphing, the shell cracked and split in half and from inside, a huge figure flew out. When the glow ended, Metapod had turned into a Butterfree, with huge wings flapping.
"String Shot! And stay up high to stay safe!" Butterfree spewed large amounts of string, adding fuel to the fire while dodging and weaving from the Rock Throws.
"Why is he still using String Shot? The fire doesn't do much against a rock-ground type," Leaf whispered to Ash.
"I…I think it's because damage is still damage. Ritchie is chipping damage and at the same time, slowing down Onix." Ash watched Ritchie carefully, who was grinning and fired up.
"Dragon Breath!" Onix obliged, and fired the beam of dragon energy, scoring a hit on the middle of Butterfree's thorax.
"Butterfree!" Butterfree dropped down, getting returned before he hit the ground. "Good job buddy, we're gonna win thanks to you." Ritchie pulled out Charmeleon's pokeball. "I didn't think that naming was needed, but now I realise that it shows individuality and a close bond between us. So let's do this, Zippo!"
Charmeleon, now Zippo, roared a challenge. It was a final showdown. Onix was tired and Zippo had enough power, however Charmeleon's defence couldn't handle any more of Onix either.
Ritchie and Brock tensed up. Zippo charged in as Onix slammed his tail. Using Metal Claw, she clinged on Onix's armour and rushed up his body.
"Shake it off!" Brock shouted, and Onix started bucking around, twisting and rolling everywhere.
Zippo clinged on and continued to the head. When Onix went to dive underground, Zippo sped up and jumped over Onix's head.
"Dragon Breath!" Green-yellow energy escaped his mouth as Zippo blasted Onix's head point-blank with the massive blast.
Onix roared in pain as he uncoiled and collapsed, shaking the ground. Brock returned Onix and met Ritchie in the middle of the battlefield, shaking hands and giving him the Boulder Badge and TM.
"That was an excellent battle, Ritchie. Your planning with using String Shot to slow us down and as fuel was very inventive. You have more than proven yourself that you're ready for the Gym Challenge, and most importantly, I'm glad you've had a change in heart. Now, I believe it's the other boy's turn."
Leer: The user channels a brief spike of energy into their eyes while focusing on a target. The effect can be ignored in the realms of high levels, but for the rest, the intimidating look and energy spike sensed affects the target psychologically, causing them to lose focus and inadvertently dropping their defense a bit. In cases where high level users Leer at a low level opponent, the target would be paralysed in fear.
Ash breathed. It was his turn now. Brock readied himself, holding his pokeball. Ash exhaled and they both sent out their first choice, Mankey and one of Brock's geodudes.
The battle began. Ash called for a Leer but Mankey immediately rushed in with Fury Swipes. Geodude merely Defense Curled, tanking the hits without issue, before Hardening right after. Mankey growled and Low Kicked, but Geodude rolled away.
"Mankey! Calm down, listen to me!" The yelling only seemed to make it worse, as Mankey yelled back.
Damn't! I thought we had everything sorted before!
"Remember our talk Mankey! We're doing this together, it makes us stronger buddy." Mankey growled but reluctantly backed down. "Good, Leer, into Low Kick."
Mankey tensed up, Leering at Geodude before leaping at the opponent. Geodude shuffled uneasily, but rolled away. Mankey continued his assaulting kicks, kicking up dust. He started to tire and Brock saw his chance. Geodude used Rollout at the Low Kicking Mankey, colliding with him.
Geodude's shell had cracks, however Mankey was far worse. He was more tired and bruised, having expended a lot of energy early on. Ash involuntarily clicked his tongue while Brock just crossed his arms, staring critically.
"Wrecking Ball #2," Brock commanded, leaving Ash and the others confused.
That was soon answered. Geodude started spinning on the spot on all sides, leaving its rough shell to become far more smooth. He then abruptly stopped and tensed up, his shell shiny with the effects of Harden. Finally, Geodude got into the familiar pose of a Rollout, and zipped across the field to land a devastating blow.
Mankey cried in pain as he blindly swang around him, in vain as Geodude had already reached the other side, circling around.
"What? What's that?" Ash stared dumbfounded.
"A combination move. It's usually not seen until much later in more experienced battles, however I have a feeling that you are as good as your companions."
From the stands, Leaf whispered to Ritchie, "What moves are in it? I get the Harden is for a harder impact, but what's the other one?" Leaf stared fretfully, eying Mankey and Ash in concern.
Ritchie's calculating gaze never wavered. "I think, I think it's Rock Polish? That's why the opponent is so much faster and hits harder. Don't think Ash has figured out what it is though."
I have absolutely no idea what he did, but it's working. Ash's eyes were narrowed, as he shouted instructions to evade and attempt at counterattacking.
Mankey was hurt, and exhausted. Meanwhile, Geodude's defense was too high for any of Mankey's weakened hits to hurt. On top of that, Mankey's little defense couldn't hold up against Geodude's force, which had become greater with the increased acceleration.
Maybe he should switch out? That would make the most sense, but he didn't want Mankey's first official battle to be a withdrawal. If Mankey was going to lose, he would go down fighting.
Mankey screeched as he leaped over the attacking Geodude. Wait! Seismic Toss! Mankey knows it and… and if… if I could do that, then we would have enough power to hurt Geodude!
Ash called for Mankey to get closer and lowered his voice. "Mankey, we've got a plan," Ash eyed the circling Geodude carefully, "trust me, just make sure to use Scratch to grab its arms." Mankey grunted in confusion but returned its focus back to the battle.
When Geodude came back with its blistering speed, Ash called for Focus Energy. The sudden rush of hormones gave Mankey a temporary boost in reaction time and in his senses, especially his vision.
Geodude was rolling closer, closer and this time Mankey didn't run away. Him and Ash seemed as if they were one, fighting as one. Ash's eyes darted to every detail, including Brock's curious expression. His own breath was rapid, his blood racing through his veins. Brock seemed to be in a similar place, tensing up in excitement.
Geodude got into arm's reach.
"Arms!" Brock and everyone else did a double-take, as Mankey's hands—with glowing nails—lashed out and dug into crevices of the boulder. He continued to dig in, prying into what was actually the arms.
"Seismic Toss!" Ash yelled in triumph.
Brock's eyes widened, Geodude tried to get away, but with all his strength, Mankey spun, spun, spun the frantic Geodude, smashing him everywhere. Mankey screeched in glory as he tensed up and with everything left, he slammed Geodude, his first official opponent, into the battlefield.
When the dust settled, Ash screamed in excitement at Mankey, who shakily stood over the fainted Geodude. Mankey burst into screams as he hooted and screeched as well as a host of other ungodly noises. He turned and sprinted to Ash, who saw this and opened his arms. Mankey leaped up—and fainted midair, crashing into Ash's arms.
Ash laughed and placed Mankey gently on the ground, "You're amazing buddy, take a good rest, and as a reward, you can wear my hat for a day." Ash placed his prized possession on Mankey's head and pressed the pokeball button, withdrawing Mankey, hat and all.
Brock gave an approving smile, "I have some points to say but I'll save them for later, on to our next battle, winner decides all."
"You bet Brock, get ready to hand over that badge," Ash grinned, readying Froakie's ball.
"Froakie, I choose you!" Brock's eyebrows moved in surprise.
"Larvitar, let's go!" Ash and the others gasped. "This little one is actually my cornerstone's offspring. I hope you're ready!" The larvitar was surprisingly large, bigger than Froakie.
Froakie fired a Water Pulse. Larvitar stomped and a pillar of rock rose, protecting it. Froakie zipped past with a Quick Attack before firing Bubble. More pillars rose, surrounding Larvitar. The rocks then exploded outwards, smashing into Froakie.
"Quick Attack!" Froakie sped in as Larvitar raised another pillar.
WIth quick acrobatics, Froakie parkoured over it and fired a Water Pulse. A rushed rock rose up, which cracked but held up.
It's like an absolute defense, Ash grimaced as Froakie continued to speed around. There has to be some weakness, but what?
Froakie fired Bubble through any weak spots, which were quickly covered. When Froakie reached a spot where Larvitar's sight was blocked, he took his chance and leaped up.
Brock caught on and commanded Rock Throws. Froakie leapfrogged off the first projectile, launching at Larvitar. He was almost there, starting a Water Pulse, and—
—Was slammed in the torso by another rock. The only chance is to sneak it, but we can't since Brock can see. Froakie leaped up and used Frubble to try and hold the rocks in place.
Rock Slide was thrown with all of the shields. Froakie used a combination of Frubble and Quick Attack to leap off the projectiles.
Ash had an idea, "Bubble! As much as possible!" As Froakie fell, Bubbles quickly filled the battlefield, distorting everyone's view of the battlefield.
Brock narrowed his eyes, eying Ash's grin. "Rock Tomb around yourself again, he could attack from any direction."
Bubbles continued to blind their vision as tension rose, where would Froakie attack from?
"Water Pulse!" Brock's eyes tracked the left, right, front and back of the shield, noticing nothing.
A glimmer of movement alerted him to Froakie from above, with a gigantic Water Pulse, "Above!" But it was for nothing.
The condensed ball of swirling water was launched down at Larvitar, slamming into it, pressure smashing it into its own walls and collapsing them. When the bubbles finally let up, the unconscious form of Larvitar appeared.
"Leader Brock's Larvitar is unable to battle, Challenger Ash—"
"YES! LET'S GO FROAKIE!" Ash overwhelmed the tired Froakie with a bear hug. "You were amazing! Oh my gosh I can't…wait, what?"
Froakie started glowing, and everybody quickly realised that he was evolving. Froakie's croaks got deeper, as his energy state gradually became taller and lankier. This continued on for a while until the glow ended, to reveal the newly-evolved Frogadier.
Ash's jaw dropped, he was unable to say anything, or blink. There was no way this was a dream, right? That was quickly answered when Frogadier held out his fist, and Ash fist-bumped him back.
He collapsed as he admired Frogadier's new form breathlessly, "You look…so cool. That frubble scarf of yours looks good on you…" Ash yammered on, stumbling over words as he continued to admire and praise Frogadier.
When he finished, Ash and Frogadier met with Brock in the middle of the battlefield. "That was a fantastic battle Ash, and congratulations on Frogadier, kalosian pokemon are quite rare here so it was an honour to see him evolve," Ash grinned with Frogadier.
"Onto your performance. How long have you had Mankey? Two, three weeks?" When Ash replied with one, Brock complimented him. "You must be quite talented then, to be able to gain that level of obedience from a difficult pokemon. You're very adaptive with a strategic mind and you and your team trust each other." He opened his palm to reveal the Boulder Badge and the TM. "You've earned this badge, Ash Ketchum."
"Thank you Brock, I won't ever forget this battle."
Brock called down Ritchie and Leaf. "This message goes for all three of you. You three have immense talent, and I can see you three rising to the top. Don't waste your potential and slack off. Keep on working hard and keep on building your bonds with your pokemon!"
Their backs unconsciously straighten out, "Yes sir!"
"And don't forget to give your bank card to the receptionist, she will transfer over the prize money."
"Nice! Time to eat well tonight!" Ash cheered.
Damn it's been awhile, but I'm back! Honestly, I was kind of put off with writing back-to-back-to-back battles, but I enjoyed it retrospectively. Please leave a review, even if it's a harsh criticism on my writing style, I would actually prefer that, but a compliment wouldn't hurt:)
Review Replies:
Megan Lyle: Thanks for the compliment! I definitely haven't given up on the story, I have so many ideas.
Namittheking: Thanks man, I honestly found it weird that Pikachu, who was closer to Ash didn't get Bond Phenomenon, which is a power up based on how close you are (as well as aura later on but it still doesn't fit thematically). So I solved it by having Greninja being Ash's starter so we can still get Ash-Greninja.
Huh, in my head, I thought having Gary win was the more inventive instead of Ash winning. Ya know, like Ash has to climb to glory, but it's not an easy path and it has lots of obstacles.
KiteRider: YES! Annihilape is what I'm planning, I fell in love with it as soon as I laid eyes on it, not to mention how unique and good the typing is.
RKF22: Thanks for the triple hype dude!