Chapter 9

When we finally got into the house, we met Kurt's granddaughter, who thanked us for saving him. Kurt then says, "Now then, did you say you have something that you want with me?"

"Actually, we're here on an errand from Professor Oak." I say while taking out the GS Ball. "He asked us to come because he can't figure out about this Poke Ball. It's called the GS Ball."

Kurt looks at the ball and gasps, "This ball... I remember this ball..."

"What do you know about this ball?" Lillie asks.

"Three years ago, I was asked by a man wearing a mask to create a Pokeball that can transcend time." Kurt says.

"Transcend time?" We all gasped in surprise. Kurt continues, "To make this Pokeball, he offered me two items. A Rainbow Wing and a Silver Wing. With the two of them, the GS Ball is made."

We can't believe what we're hearing, the ball is made from the feathers of the Ho-oh and Lugia? East says, "But why would this ball be in Sevii Islands?"

"I don't know. But it will not be safe if I keep it here. I suggest that you keep the ball." Kurt says.

We nod as we keep the ball, and then Ariel says, "Well, looks like you got your answers. And since we're here, maybe we should get a special Apricorn Pokeball."

"Oh right. We do gather some Apricorns after all." Reisa says.

Kurt says, "It would please me greatly to make Poke Balls for Trainers like you. I actually made a batch, why don't you take them."

We are surprised to see Fast Balls, and Kurt's granddaughter explains, "That's a Fast Ball. They are made from White Apricorns. They are actually more effective in capturing Pokemon that easily run away."

"We do have Red, Yellow, Green, Blue, Pink, White, and Black Apricorns." Lillie says. "If I remember correctly... they are for Level Balls, Moon Balls, Friend Balls, Lure Balls, Love Balls, Fast Balls, and Heavy Balls."

Since we have 7 people and we want more Pokeballs, Kurt's granddaughter decides to show us around the Apricorn forest on the hill. First is the Pink one, which makes Love Balls. It is more likely to succeed against a Pokémon of the opposite gender to the Trainer's Pokémon. Although they are still ripened, we can't take them.

Then we find the Yellow one, which is able to become Moon Balls. Although we already have a bunch of Pokemon that evolved with Moon Stone. But we also notice some Pineco in the trees.

"We didn't have a Pineco, maybe we should capture it." I say.

"But we have to be careful because they might use Self-destruct." Lillie says. Then we make sure to be careful and capture one of the Pineco.

Pineco: The Bagworm Pokemon: Bug Type. It spits out a fluid that it uses to glue tree bark to its body. The fluid hardens when it touches air.

After that's done, we find the one with the Green Apricorns, which makes Friend Balls, which enhances the friendship. But just before we can take the Apricorns, there is a swarm of Beedrill and we are forced to retreat.

The fourth one is the Red Apricorns, which make Level Balls, which capture the Pokemon higher level. But much to our surprise, there is a giant trap in front of us and Team Rocket is the one setting them. Not to mention they manage to take Pikachu.

Ariel asks, "Are they Team Rocket members? They are more like clowns to me."

"Who are you calling clowns? You twerp!" Jessie yells.

"You better watch your mouth." Ariel taunts. "If you don't know, Giovanni is my biological father."

The three of them freeze as they never realize that Giovanni has a daughter. Ariel already sends out another Pokemon, which is an Arbok, and uses Poison Sting to attack them, I also manage to catch Pikachu and free him out of his cage.

Just before we can send them flying again, the three of them fell into a hole made by Diglett. "Looks like we've already dealt with them..."

The fifth one is the Blue Apricorns, which is able to make Lure Balls. Those are great for Water Pokemon, and they are the first ones we actually picked. We also notice the black apricorns, which are used for Heavy Balls, but more Pineco appears and the strong winds from Team Rocket's machine are trying to make them Self Destruct.

"Not those guys again." Kris mutters.

"This is a job for Pineco!" I throw the ball and Pineco immediately uses Rapid Spin on Team Rocket. "Good work, Pineco." I say.

But then they send out Arbok and Victreebel, they try to attack Pineco. Reisa says, "We can't let it use Self Destruct, or else the trees are going to be ruined!"

I quickly recall Pineco into the ball, and having Pikachu and Ariel's Arbok to send them flying using Thunderbolt and Sludge Wave. Then after its done, we decide to wait until Kurt finishes the Lure Balls.

"So Ariel, do you do any of the tournaments?" Reisa asks.

"Well, besides defeating Team Rocket, I also wanted to be a Coordinator. I just got my first ribbon here in Azalea Contest." Ariel says.

"Good for you. We also got one ribbon as well. That made us Rivals." I say.

Ariel asks Reisa to contest battle. Reisa agrees and she takes out a Slowpoke. Ariel uses Houndour. They both go on a heated battle with flashy moves, Reisa loses when Houndour uses Dark Pulse with Ember swirling it.

"You are good, Reisa. But you aren't strong enough." Ariel says. Then she decides to leave because the Fast Ball is enough for her and she didn't actually want a Lure Ball. Reisa looks at her defeated Slowpoke, she bursts into tears. East, Lillie, Ethan, Kris, and I comfort her, saying that she can win against her. Reisa wipes her tears and nods.

In the Pokemon Center, we also train up our Chansey and it evolves into a Blissey, then we also use both of our King's Rocks to evolve Slowpoke into Slowking.

Slowking: The Royal Pokémon. Water and Psychic Type. Evolved from Slowpoke when traded while holding a King's Rock. It has incredible intellect and intuition. Whatever the situation, it remains calm and collected.

Blissey: The Happiness Pokemon: Normal Type. Evolved from Chansey with high friendship. Biting into one of the delicious eggs that Blissey provides will make everyone around smile with joy.

Now that we have finished everything, we are now into the Azalea Town Gym. There is a Gym Guide and he says, "Yo, challenger! Bugsy made this Gym. It's a huge nest of Bug-type Pokémon. Bugsy's young, but he's a master of Bug-type Pokémon! It's going to be tough without my advice. Let's see... Bug-type Pokémon don't like fire. Flying-type moves are super-effective too."

"Okay. So we're facing a Bug Gym." I say.

"That means Exbo is going to sweep this gym with ease!" Ethan says.

We see three Spinarak-shaped karts in front of us, and some complicated tracks as well. Lillie says, "I think we should walk the right one so that we can fight Bugsy?"

"Maybe, I say let's pick this one." Reisa says as we choose the right one, and it leads us to a Bug Catcher named Al, he says, "You've come all this way, crossing the web like a bug Pokemon! Allow me to teach you the charms of bug Pokemon!"

He sends out Caterpie and Weedle, and I use Quilava to defeat both of them with the Flame Wheel. "You proved how tough you are." Al says.

After that, we head back and choose the left one instead, and it is the right path as we meet another trainer on the way, it is Bug Catcher named Benny, and he says, "Bug Pokemon evolve young. So they get stronger that much faster."

He sends out Weedle, Kakuna, and Beedrill to battle, but every one of them is defeated by my Shiny Hoothoot, who uses Confusion to knock them out. "Just evolving isn't enough!" He says with horror.

We see two colors of switches, with two more colors of the tracks. East says, "So if we deactivate this blue one, the kart will just ignore the blue one...that's good to know."

"I know." We switch the colors and head back on the kart, and we face another Bug Catcher named Josh. He says, "You saved all the Slowpoke? Whew, you're mighty! But my grown-up Pokemon are pretty tough, too!"

Then he sends out a Paras and I use Golbat, with the Poison Fang, Paras is defeated. "Urgh!" He yells in frustration.

After activating the Blue Switch again, we get to another set of blue switches, which is guarded by the twins Amy and Mimi. Amy says, "Hey, are you challenging the Leader? No way!"

Mimi says, "If you insist, we'll be your opponents!"

This time it is a double battle with Amy using Ledyba, and Mimi using Spinarak. I go for Hoothoot and Pikachu together, with Pikachu's electric attacks, Ledyba is defeated, and Hoothoot uses Hypnosis to make Spinarak fall asleep, and then knock out with Confusion.

"Oh, goodness!" Amy says. "I'm feeling a bit dizzy..." Mimi replies.

After activating the Blue Switch again, they ride the kart as they get to the Red Switch. We press the switch again to deactivate the red one, and we finally reach Bugsy, and he's standing on top of a tree.

"I'm Bugsy! I never lose when it comes to Bug-type Pokémon." He says, but then he asks, "Excuse me, but can you help me get the ladder, I'm stuck up here."

We help him get back down, and I say, "You should be more careful, Bugsy. If we aren't here, you still be stuck up there."

"I was a little startled when I heard there are challengers today." Bugsy says. "My research is going to make me an authority on Bug-type Pokémon! Let me demonstrate what I've learned from my studies."

Then it is a three-on-three match, and he says, "I'm going to start off with Kakuna!"

When Kakuna is up, I say, "I choose you! Quilava!"

When Quilava is out, it yawns as it is still drowsy. Bugsy says, "Kakuna! Use String Shot!"

"Dodge it!" Quilava manages to dodge the attack, but Kakuna continues to use the String Shot and covers the whole field, much to our surprise. Quilava is also trapped in the sticky thread.

"Use Flame Wheel!" I yell, but just as Quilava manages to get out of the attack, Kakuna goes for Poison Sting, landing a direct hit on Quilava.

"Quilava! Return!" I decide to return Quilava before another Poison Sting hits.

"Well, I guess retreating is better than losing." Bugsy says.

"Hoothoot! I choose you!" When Hoothoot appears, Bugsy says, "A Shiny Hoothoot, that was new."

"And this one is going to be nasty." I say. Hoothoot manages to dodge the Kakuna's String Shot, but just as Hoothoot is going for Peck, Kakuna just uses its threads to evade the attack and reach a nearby tree, then it swings from tree to tree using String Shot.

"Focus and use Confusion!" I yell, and this time Hoothoot manages to defeat Kakuna. "We did it! You did great, Hoothoot!"

I hug Hoothoot, who also nods in agreement. Bugsy says, "I can't believe you beat my first Pokemon, but this is going to be harder. Metapod! Go!"

After sending out the Pokemon, Reisa says, "Another middle-staged Pokemon?"

"But Kakuna was already strong... I wonder what will Metapod be..." Kris says.

"We can handle this. Let's make this two for two." I say.

"Sorry, Ash. But it's not going to be that easy." Bugsy says.

Hoothoot goes for Tackle, but Metapod uses Harden to increase its defenses and block the attack. I say, "That can't stop us! Use Confusion!"

"Metapod! Use your Harden again!" With the Harden, it doesn't seem to take more damage after falling from the Confusion attack.

"We can't stand still for this kind of thing! Use Tackle attack!" Much to our surprise, Metapod jumps and hits Hoothoot, knocking him out of the battle.

"This Metapod has offense in power and unbelievable defense as well." Lillie says.

Then I go for Flaaffy. Metapod uses Tackle and Flaaffy avoids it which causes the Tackle to stir up a cloud of dust. Flaaffy avoids another Tackle from Metapod, causing it to land into a tree. The resulting falling leaves allow Metapod to camouflage itself and seemingly vanish.

"Hey, where did it go?" Ethan asks.

"It's all about speed. Nothing can match with a Bug Pokemon that is trained to move." Bugsy says.

Metapod jumps and uses Tackle again, which Flaaffy avoids by using Agility. "Sorry, but Flaaffy is faster!"

Flaaffy then latches onto Metapod's back and delivers the finishing blow, a close-range Thunder Shock attack.

Bugsy recalls Metapod and says, "You're good, Ash. You're the first trainer who gets into the third round of the match. But lucky for me, I saved the best one for last. I choose you, Scyther!"

After Scyther appears, I say, "Don't let it scare you! Use Cotton Guard!"

I try to raise defense, but Scyther remains standing on the spot. I have Flaaffy use Thunder Shock, but Scyther dodges with Double Team.

"Scyther, use Slash attack!" Bugsy commands.

"Don't let it fool you! Hit them all with your electric attack!" Flaaffy unleashes a Thunder Shock to blast Scyther's Double Team, but they all disappear much to Flaaffy's surprise. The real Scyther then appears behind Flaaffy and knocks him out after an onslaught of Fury Cutter attacks.

I recall Flaaffy and sent back Quilava. Scyther uses Fury Cutter while Quilava dodges, it goes for Double Team while it uses another Fury Cutter, this time faster than the other Fury Cutter, while Quilava is still able to dodge. This gets Quilava really fired up and uses Flamethrower, which gets rid of Scyther's Double Team, but the real Scyther deflects it by using Swords Dance and hits Quilava.

"I know Fire is Bug Type's greatest weakness. That's why I have came up with this perfect attack to repel anyone. There's no way you can beat me." Bugsy says.

As I'm wondering what I should do, an idea comes to my mind. Scyther approaches with another Fury Cutter, but as soon as I command Quilava to use Flamethrower he has Scyther perform Sword Dance.

"Now, jump right above Scyther!" I yell, "Point your body straight down! And use your Flamethrower!"

Quilava jumps into the air and goes into a spin above Scyther, then it unleashes a powerful Flamethrower which engulfs Scyther. The damage stops Scyther's Sword Dance and Quilava then Tackles its opponent to the ground, knocking it out.

"We did it, Quilava!" I cheer.

"That was great thinking, Ash!" Reisa says.

"Quilava is doing great as well." Kris adds.

"Coming into this match, I thought there was no way a Fire Type Pokemon could actually beat my Scyther. But you came up with a great strategy. Here, this is the Hive Badge."

"I get the badge and thank him, and he says, "Do you know the benefits of the Hive Badge? If you have it, Pokémon up to Lv. 30 will obey you, even traded ones. Pokémon that knows Cut will be able to use it outside of battle, too. Bug-type Pokémon are deep. There are many mysteries to explore. Study your top choices thoroughly."

"Now it is my turn." Ethan says. Then he also uses the same Pokemon to battle against Ethan, but Ethan still wins the match in the end.

"You are great as well, Ethan. I am sure you can keep going." Bugsy gives him the badge, and he then thanks him. Before we leave, Kurt's Granddaughter comes to us and gives us the Lure Balls and the Heavy Balls. We thank her before continuing our journey.

Here is a new chapter, and in this chapter, Ash and Ethan get their second badge. I hope you like this chapter.

Ash + Lillie's Pokemon:

Charizard x2 (In training), Butterfree x2 (One Pink), Pikachu, Lapras, Bayleef, Quilava, Furret, Hoothoot (Shiny), Ledyba, Golbat, Togepi, Flaaffy, Hoppip, Aipom, Slowking, Pineco, Wooper, Steelix (Crystal), Scizor, Heracross, Seadra, Porygon, Blissey

Reisa's Pokemon:

Totodile, Marill, Quagsire, Slowking

East's Pokemon:

Hoothoot, Ledyba, Mantine

Ethan's Pokemon:

Quilava, Poliwhirl, Egg, Aipom, Sunflora

Kris' Pokemon:

Bayleef, Cubone