Part XCVIII: Climbing the Mountain
"Ash! Welcome to the Cyllage Gym." A voice called from high above them as they all looked up the rock formation in the center of the cavern at the sound. "I've been looking forward to this since we met."
Standing atop the rock formation was Grant, the Cyllage Gym Leader. Unlike when they saw the dark-skinned rock type specialist at the Battle Chateau, Grant was in his standard gym attire and not the formal clothes he wore when he was at the Chateau.
This time Grant wore a simple, tight fitting, black three-quarter length shirt with white cuffs, and similar simple gray pants that ended in black cuffs midway down his calves, both likely designed for rock climbing. He finished the look with black climbing shoes, a white harness around his waist with a large bag on one side that Ash thought contained chalk given the power substance that seemed to be on Grant's hands, and a red carabiner on a cord around his neck.
The only thing that was the same as before was his jet-black hair. It was still swept up like a mountain top and to the left with a few different colored stones in it for color. Ash wasn't sure what the purpose of the stones were, but it somehow fit Grant's style.
Today was the day of Ash's challenge against the gym leader, his 3rd of his journey so far. They had gotten word at the Pokémon Center last night that Grant had returned to Cyllage City but given the hour he wasn't seeing challengers. However, he had promised Ash a battle first thing in the morning.
They'd come straight to the gym after Ash had had a hearty breakfast for that battle. Thankfully, the few days they spent in Cyllage had allowed them to discover that they gym was on the top of one of the mountains that overlooked the city with the entrance set into the mountain itself showing that it was a converted cave. It was an impressive gym for sure and just what Ash would expect from a rock type specialist.
While May and Serena had made it here the year before they hadn't been to the gym, so it was all knew to them as well as they all marveled at the sight before them. The gym itself was located in a large, natural, caldera of sorts if the open ceiling was anything to go by.
Under the opening in the top was a rock formation that stretched from the floor to about 20 yards or so from the opening and looked to be a good 100 yards high. Set into the rock were 4 rock climbing walls with rest platforms at specific places along the way.
"Come on up Ash." Grant said with a grin as he hung near the top by one hand and gestured with his other hand for Ash to join him. "The battlefield is up here. Climb the walls before if you want or take the elevator to the side if you don't feel like climbing, the choice is yours."
"Oh, I am climbing." Ash said with a grin as he turned his hat backwards, this was a challenge he couldn't pass up. "Come on Pikachu."
"Pikachu." Pikachu said with a grin from his shoulder as Ash made his way to the first wall and began to climb it.
"Just what I like to see." Grant said glad that Ash had taken the challenger's route he'd set up and climbed over the ledge at the top. "I await you with the last wall; me."
Ash didn't hear this as he was focused on climbing not thinking of anything or looking at what he was doing. All his concentration was devoted to climbing the wall and reaching the top of it. Nothing else mattered as the world fell away while Ash climbed.
Misty, May, and Serena just looked at it in worry as Ash slipped a few times, but his sheer determination and drive kept him moving until he reached the top and pulled himself over the final lip to gasp on the ground at Grant's feet a little exhausted from the effort but happy to have made it. Only then did Misty and the others head to the elevator to take it up to the observation platform.
"So, what did you think of on your climb?" Grant asked as Ash got to his feet.
"Think?" Ash asked still a little out of breath as he looked at the gym leader. "I wasn't thinking."
"Good man." Grant said with a smile as the others arrived at the observation area just to the side of the battlefield that was atop the formation. "So where were you looking?"
"Huh." Ash said thinking on the climb he'd just undertaken. "Up. I was always looking up."
"Excellent that is just what I like to hear from my challengers." Grant said with a nod. "You have reached a state of enlightenment and conquered the walls but there is one more to conquer. I am that final wall. Are you ready?"
"Yes." Ash said with a grin. "Bring it on Grant, I'm here for my 3rd gym badge."
Grant nodded, turned, and led Ash to the raised battlefield that had been set up atop the formation. Around the edge of the area were large rocks before a small area to walk on and then the battlefield itself. Grant climbed the steps with Ash right behind him and then continued onto the regulation battlefield and to the other side where his box was while Ash took his place in the challenger's box.
To Ash's right was the observation area right behind where the ref, a brawny man who was likely one of Grant's students. Misty was in her usual cheerleader outfit and standing at the edge with Piplup on the railing in front of her and Vulpix and Helioptile at her feet cheering for Ash. May and Serena stood to her side also leaning on the railing ready to cheer for Ash though neither had dressed up today.
"Just so you know Ash, the rules of the Cyllage Gym are a little different to what you might expect from most gyms." Grant said as he took his position and took out his Poke Ball. "Here at the Cyllage Gym I only use two Pokémon, but you have the use of all the Pokémon you have on you right now."
"Really?" Ash asked surprised by the rule though he'd been in a similar situation once before. "But I have 4 Pokémon on me."
"Great." Grant said pleased that Ash had so many on him and surprising Ash by his attitude. "This is how the Cyllage Gym operates. I want to see all you got so show me everything."
"Alright I can do that." Ash said with a grin as a plan came to his mind for how to deal with Grant with all 4 of his Pokémon while hopefully allowing for contingencies if things went wrong. "Though this isn't a first for me to have a battle like this. I've had at least one leader allow me to use more than her, a full team in fact, and she pushed me to the end so hopefully you can as well."
"Really?" Grant asked curious. "It's not a common rule to allow a challenger more than the leader. Who else has one like it?"
"Roxie, the Virbank Gym Leader out in Unova." Ash said recalling the gym battle he had before he was briefly reunited with Misty in that region. "She was the 8th leader I faced there, and her gym allows the challenger to use all 6 Pokémon against her 3. She's a really good poison type specialist and she took out 5 of my Pokémon with her 3 before I finally won."
"I see, impressive." Grant said pulling out a Poke Ball as he spoke. "I will endeavor to exceed that and beat you."
"I don't intend to lose." Ash said, however he did not take out a Poke Ball.
"Then show me." Grant replied. "Let's start this."
"Alright, the gym battle between Grant, the Cyllage Gym Leader, and the Ash the challenger is about to begin." The ref said taking that as his cue to officially start the battle. "The challenger already knows the format but in addition to that, only he may substitute Pokémon. Begin!"
"Tyrunt, let's go." Grant said throwing out his Poke Ball.
"Pikachu, I choose you." Ash said pointing out to the battlefield as his 3rd gym battle began.
Pikachu happily ran out onto the battlefield ready to battle as Grant's Poke Ball burst open and the Royal Heir Pokémon appeared. Ash wasn't sure how Grant got a Pokémon that had once been extinct and right now he didn't care. He would beat the brown dinosaur-like Pokémon that was a smaller and browner version of May's Tyrantrum and be one step closer to his next badge.
"Start this off with Quick Attack." Ash said.
"Rock Tomb Tyrunt." Grant countered as Pikachu began to run at Tyrunt at full speed.
"Dodge the rocks Pikachu." Ash said. "I know you can do it."
Pikachu just nodded as he hit his top speed and closed in on Tyrunt. The rocks that were formed by Rock Tomb appeared as he ran and crashed down and into the battlefield, but he was well past them before they landed as he showed off his speed. Pikachu knew how fast his Quick Attack was and there was no way a Rock Tomb could slow him down.
That was shown when he leapt up and slammed into Tyrunt right under its jaw staggering it back as it finished the Rock Tomb. The Quick Attack didn't do much damage due to Tyrunt's rock type, but damage wasn't the point of the attack.
No, Ash needed Pikachu to get in close to Tyrunt for the one attack he had that could do some significant damage to the rock and dragon type he was facing. Well, that and there was always the chance that Pikachu's Static would trigger and give Ash a potential advantage, but he never relied on that.
"Now Pikachu, Iron Tail!" Ash said as Tyrunt staggered back.
"Pikachu!" Pikachu said leaping into the air and flipping as his tail turned to steel.
Neither Grant nor Tyrunt had time to react before Pikachu completed his flip and brough the steel type attack down onto Tyrunt's head driving it face first into the battlefield hard enough to crack it and kick up some dust. Pikachu flipped back grinning at the successful attack, but Grant knew it wasn't enough to take down his Tyrunt and Pikachu was now too close to avoid what he had in store for it.
"Crunch." Grant ordered.
"Pikachu!" Pikachu yelled but before Ash could counter Tyrunt had leapt up and snatched Pikachu in its now glowing jaws.
The Crunch attack was stronger than Pikachu expected as Tyrunt shook him a few times and then showed off its strength by tossing Pikachu back and across the battlefield to land on Ash's side of it with a thud. However, Grant wasn't done yet.
"Rock Tomb." Grant said again.
This time Pikachu didn't have time to dodge it. He had hit the ground hard after the attack and rolled as Tyrunt activated the Rock Tomb for a second time. The rocks formed and fell down right onto Pikachu as he finished his roll slamming into him hard and creating a cloud of dust from the impact.
"Pikachu!" Ash yelled stunned by the counter combo Grant had used on him.
"Your strategy was good Ash." Grant said as the dust began to settle. "You got in close and landed a super effective steely type attack, but you also allowed me to counter with a close quarters move of my own. You see, Tyrunt's ability is Strong Jaw which increases the power of biting moves. It allowed me to combo you and…"
Grant didn't finish speaking as the dusk settled to show that Pikachu was on all fours, jaw clenched, cheeks sparking and while clearly injured still standing surrounded by the rubble of the Rock Tomb. Ash grinned, Pikachu was still fighting and while he likely didn't have much left, he could still land some attacks and make sure that Ash's next Pokémon beat Tyrunt.
"Thunderbolt." Ash said before Grant could recover.
"Pikachu!" Pikachu yelled sending out a flash of electricity that soared across the battlefield and slammed into Tyrunt frying it and doing some damage but not much due to Tyrunt's resistance to electric type moves. "Follow it up with another Quick Attack."
The point of the Thunderbolt, just like the first Quick Attack, had been to put Tyrunt on the back foot to keep up the pressure so that Pikachu could get in close with another attack. Pikachu again shot across the battlefield at the recovering Tyrunt only this time he was a shade slower due to the damage he'd taken. That and this time Grant was ready for it.
"Intercept Pikachu with Dragon Tail." Grant ordered. "Your attack won't work twice Ash."
Grant was right as Tyrunt's tail glowed with dragon type power and it whipped it at Pikachu just as Pikachu leapt at it. Tyrunt's tail slammed into Pikachu's head and they held that pose for a moment as the two attacks fought each other before one finally broke the other.
In this case it was Tyrunt's Dragon Tail that won out and he finished whipping his tail around and sent Pikachu flying back to Ash with a yell of pain. Pikachu hit the ground hard and skidded along it on his back creating a furrow in the battlefield until he cam to a stop just in front of Ash. Pikachu lay there his fur darkened, and swirls for eyes.
"Pikachu is unable to battle." The ref declared raising an arm to Ash's side. "Tyrunt is the winner."
"You did great Pikachu." Ash said with a smile as he stepped forward and picked his Pokémon up in his arms as Pikachu began to come to. "You held in longer than I could have hoped for and got in a lot of hits on Tyrunt including an Iron Tail which was the important one. Don't worry, I will beat it now."
Ash quickly walked to the side and handed Pikachu over to Misty to look after before hurrying back to the battle at hand, pulling out a Poke Ball as he ran so that he could get right back into it. Misty moved to put Pikachu on the ground in a safe spot and Vulpix, Helioptile and Piplup came over to look after Pikachu as he recovered. She then turned and returned to supporting her boyfriend in the battle.
"Your Pikachu is tough." Grant said with respect in his voice as Ash took his place again. "Most electric types don't give me that much of a challenge when I face them."
"Pikachu has plenty of experience against rock types, it's why he knows Iron Tail." Ash said. "But my next Pokémon will finish what Pikachu started."
"Then let's see it." Grant said.
"Riolu, I choose you." Ash said throwing out the Poke Ball.
Riolu burst forth with a spin and landed in front of Ash in a fighting stance. He looked across the battlefield at his opponent, a small, bipedal, brown thing with large jaws and a white-collar. It had to be the pre-evolved form of the larger, redder, and meaner Pokémon that one of his human's traveling females had on her and who occasionally came out when there was space. That meant that it was a rock type so Riolu would have no problems with it. He could feel Ash's aura fill him and fuel his battle spirit. It was time to win again.
"Finish this for us Riolu." Ash said. "Force Palm."
"Draco Meteor." Grant called out as Riolu began to run at Tyrunt. "Riolu is a pure fighting type meaning it isn't resistant to that move yet."
"Piplup!" Piplup squawked at the sound of that move and dove forward to cower between Misty's legs his flippers over his head so that she took the attack as well though if it hit him, but no one noticed the Penguin Pokémon.
"Dodge it Riolu, I know you can." Ash said encouraging his Pokémon.
Riolu just ran at Tyrunt as the latter tilted its head back and shot the glowing ball into the air. As it exploded Riolu heard his trainer's encouragement and drew on Ash aura to lend him speed and mobility as he ran at his opponent as fast as he could.
The small meteors of Draco Meteor rained down around Riolu, but he fell into a trance of sorts and easily dodged or in some cases leapt over the raining attack much to the surprise of Grant and Tyrunt as he ran. In short order he was out of danger and leapt at a now wide eyed Tyrunt his right forepaw extended.
There was no way for Tyrunt to avoid the attack as the palm made contact with its chest. With a roar Riolu pushed all his strength into the attack and blasted the shockwave out of his paw sending Tyrunt flying back with a wail of pain. The power of the attack was such that Grant had to dive out of the way of his Pokémon before it sailed out of the back of battlefield and into one of the large boulders that ringed the peak of the formation.
The super effective attack was too much for the Royal Heir Pokémon and it passed out before it hit the boulder. There was a large boom as it made contact with the solid rock and the dust kicked up on impact completely covered Tyrunt. It took a moment for it to die down but when it did it was clear what the result was. Tyrunt was wedged into the boulder from the impact with swirls for eyes.
"Tyrunt is unable to battle." The ref said raising a hand to Grant's side. "Riolu is the winner."
"Go Riolu, show them how strong you are." Misty cheered as Piplup looked up from between her legs amazed that he hadn't been hit by a Draco Meteor for the first time in what felt like years of knowing that move. "One more Ash, you can do it."
"Tyrunt return." Grant said recalling his Pokémon. "You did great my friend, really held in there but Pikachu took more out of you then I realized and that Riolu is something else when it dodged your Draco Meteor. I don't think Korrina's Lucario was that agile when it was a Riolu. Take a rest, you earned it."
"Riolu return." Ash said recalling as Grant put away his Poke Ball and cocked an eyebrow at Ash's substitution of a Pokémon that had an advantage over him. "You did great buddy, but I have the use of all my Pokémon so take a break, I may need you again later. The others will want to battle as well so who I am to deny them this experience."
"Interesting Ash." Grant said as he pulled out his second and last Pokémon. "I wasn't expecting you to recall Riolu so quickly after using it."
"Riolu has an advantage over your Pokémon, one that get's stronger as the battle goes on." Ash said putting Riolu's ball away and pulling out his third Pokémon. "I could have kept him in and probably won the battle, but I want to save him for later as a last resort. You have allowed me to use all my Pokémon so I don't see why the others shouldn't get some experience against you as well."
"I like that, really showing me all you've got, just what I wanted out of this battle." Grant said grinning as he threw out his second Pokémon. "Let's see how they fair against my other Pokémon. Onix, let's go!"
"Fletchling, I choose you." Ash said throwing out his Poke Ball as Grant's Onix, a Pokémon Ash was very familiar with due to Brock having one during their early travels together, appeared and towered over Grant with a roar. "I know you can do it."
"Fletchling is an interesting choice against my Onix." Grant said a little surprised by Ash's third Pokémon as the small avian Pokémon appeared before Ash. "Another type disadvantage just like Pikachu. I respect that and after how well Pikachu did, I know not to underestimate you Ash. Onix start this off with Rock Tomb."
"Dodge that and show off your flying Fletchling." Ash countered as the rocks of Rock Tomb began to form. "And get in close to land a Steel Wing on Onix, it's so large you can't miss it."
Fletchling tweeted before he flew at the massive rock and ground type Pokémon before him. The rocks would do a lot of damage if they hit but he was small, agile, and faster than expected so he easily avoided them as they fell, and he bore down on the surprised Rock Snake Pokémon.
As he neared Onix, Fletchling's wings flashed and turned to steel. With the size of the Pokémon, he was facing there was no way that Fletchling was not going to hit it and he showed that when his wing slammed into its upper chest of it. Fletchling tweeted in success as Onix recoiled from the hit with a roar of pain at the super effective attack.
"Rock Polish." Grant said as Onix was recoiling. "Let's take the speed advantage in this matchup."
"Follow it up with another Steel Wing." Ash said pressing his advantage as Onix flashed before him. "I know you can do it Fletchling."
"Show off that speed with Iron Tail." Grant said. "Ground Fletchling and then follow it up with Rock Tomb. It's a lot better than I expected but we won't lose to in Onix."
What happened next was not what Ash was expecting. As Fletchling was turning, his wings glowing again, Onix's tail turned to steel and it whipped it around and down faster than Ash thought possible for an Onix. Fletchling didn't stand a chance as the tail hit him and drove him hard and straight into the ground with a crash that kicked up a lot of dust.
Onix didn't let up. Its trainer had ordered it to ground the Fletchling and then hit it with a Rock Tomb which it did with a roar.
"Come on Fletchling, get up and use Double Team." Ash said as Fletchling struggled to get up, one eye closed, and follow its trainer's orders as the rocks began to form. "I know you can do it."
Fletchling felt Ash's love and passion as he tried to get up and began to activate his Double Team in the process. Alas Onix was still too fast for him and the rocks had already begun to fall down and onto him before the first of his copies appeared. As he hadn't moved his Double Team wasn't that effective, but the Rock Tomb was super effective, and it hit him full force before he could take flight.
Fletchling didn't make a sound as he was buried in the rocks, dust billowing up from the impact point. When it cleared, they could see the devastating result. Fletchling lay in the center of the rock rubble on the cracked floor of the battlefield with swirls for eyes. His status as a first stage Pokémon likely being the reason he was unable to hold out against the Iron Tail and Rock Tomb combo.
"Fletchling is unable to battle." The ref said raising an arm to Ash's side. "Onix is the winner."
"Fletchling return." Ash said recalling his flying type with a small smile and looking at the ball in his hand. "You did great my friend. That was a tough battle from the start with the types that were involved but you landed a super effective hit and that was big as it will help in the long run. I didn't anticipate Onix's speed so that is on me. Don't worry, we will still win this match."
"Your Fletchling is good and faster than I anticipated." Grant said as Ash put away Fletchling's Poke Ball and pulled out his fourth one. "It did better than I expected from it. Rock Polish enhances Onix's speed, without it I don't think I could have landed that Iron Tail and allowed for the Rock Tomb, but I needed it to counter Fletchling's mobility. You're good Ash, I can't wait to see what your fourth Pokémon is. That is unless you opt for Riolu again."
"Only if I can't beat you with this one will Riolu return." Ash said throwing out the Poke Ball. "Froakie, I choose you."
"A Froakie, a solid choice against my Onix." Grant said as Froakie appeared before Ash. "Water and grass types are problematic for it but I'm not a gym leader for nothing. Well then, show me what your Froakie can do."
"Oh, I will." Ash said grinning. "Froakie, Water Pulse."
"Dodge and use Iron Tail." Grant said as Froakie formed the water in his paws.
Again, Onix showed off its enhanced speed by swiftly sliding forward and to the side to avoid the blast of water. As soon as it was clear of the super effective attack, Onix turned its tail to steel and brought it down on the startled Froakie.
The Iron Tail connected with Froakie and drove him into the ground. He grunted at the impact but as it was a steel type move, he was resistant to it so it wouldn't take him down. Froakie trusted Ash to know what was best and Ash showed that with his next order.
"Froakie, leap into the air and use Double Team." Ash ordered as Onix withdrew its tail. "And then use Water Pulse in conjunction with the Double Team."
Froakie croaked in agreement as he leapt up and to the side so that he wasn't directly in front of Onix. He then activated his Double Team and suddenly several Froakies were visible high in the air. Onix looked at them in confusion as Grant readied his next attack. However, before he could attack Froakie launch his second Water Pulse.
This time all the Froakies showed the move at almost the same time as the real one. The shadow Water Pulses didn't do anything but with so many Onix couldn't see the real one before it hit it squarely in the side of the head. Onix roared in pain as it fell back and slithered away from the super effective attack, but it was somehow still in the battle much to Ash's surprise given how good water type attacks were against Onix. Grant wasn't and was already ready with his next counter.
"Now Onix, Flash!" Grant called out.
Onix showed its trust in its trainer as it turned to face the still horde of Froakies and suddenly let out a large flash of light similar to Dazzling Gleam only there was no damage in this attack. Instead, the real Froakie was blinded losing his concentration and causing all the other Froakies to vanish as he fell to the ground. This was what Grant had been going for and he capitalized on his advantage again.
"Rock Tomb." Grant called out as Froakie fell.
"Dodge it and counter with Water Pulse." Ash called out but alas the Flash had done its job and temporarily blinded Froakie from what was going on around him.
Froakie didn't stand a chance to dodge the rocks as they crashed down on him right after he hit the ground. Unlike with the Iron Tail attack, Froakie wasn't resistant to the Rock Tomb though it was at least not super effective against him. Still, it hurt a lot and he doubted he could take more than one more of them, two more and he was definitely done for.
However, he was still in this and as he slowly got up in the dust the Rock Tomb had created, he set his jaw in determination. He was going to win this. Ash expected him to, and he wasn't going to let Ash down.
"Keep it up Froakie." Ash called out to him through the dust. "I know your still fighting in there. We can still win this."
Froakie heard Ash's trust and love in his voice and smiled. Ash was right, they could do this and Froakie knew what he had to do to win. It was time. It was time for the next stage as he and Ash grew closer, the next step on the path to maximizing his potential. With a croak, Froakie trigger the long-awaited change within his cells and suddenly began to glow with a white light within the dust cloud.
"What the…" Ash began amazed as the white light shone through the dust.
"Incredible." Grant said his eyes wide; he had thought that Froakie would be down for the count after the Rock Tomb, he had not expected this.
"Frogadier!" Frogadier croaked as the dust settled and they all stared at the newly evolved Pokémon standing tall and proud in the center of the rubble.
Frogadier stood about two feet tall as he looked at Onix. His chest, legs, lower jaw, eyelids, and arms were all still a light blue but his hands, toes head and part of his back and side were now a dark blue while his fingertips, nostrils and frubbles were now white. Out of reflex, Ash pulled out his Pokedex to scan Frogadier.
"Frogadier, the Bubble Frog Pokémon and the evolved form of Froakie." The Pokedex chimed. "It's swiftness is unparalleled. It can scale a tower of more than 2,000 feet in a minute's time."
"Alright Frogadier, you evolved." Ash said pumping his fist. "Let's win this."
"This is a surprise but just what I love to see in a battle." Grant said with a grin. "So, show me Ash. Show me that you have climbed the mountain. Onix Rock Tomb!"
"Frogadier, dodge it and use Water Pulse!" Ash countered as Onix roared and the rocks began to form.
"Frogadier!" Frogadier croaked and he leapt into the air.
Rather than leaping forward and away from the rocks, Frogadier did something that startled everyone present, he leapt up at them. Only Frogadier knew what he was going to do, and he was going to show off his new skills to Ash as he reached the rocks and then leapt onto and over them, using them to both avoid the attack and gain an incredibly height over Onix who was now looking up with a slack jawed expression at the second stage water type.
As Frogadier reached the apex of his leap, he began to form the ball of water between his hands. Then, as soon as he was at the apex, he unleashed the pulse of water down and onto Onix's head before the stunned Pokémon could move. The rock and ground type didn't dodge the super effective attack and just took right in the face.
The third super effective attack, and second water type attack, was way too much for Onix to handle. With a groan, Onix fell backwards and crashed into the battlefield with enough force to shake it and kick up a lot of dust. As the dust settled and Frogadier landed back on his feet in front of Ash the results were clear as day before them. Onix was on its side with swirls for eyes.
"Onix is unable to battle." The ref declared raising a hand to Grant's side. "The winner is Frogadier. The gym leader is now out of Pokémon which means that the winner of this battle is Ash the challenger."
"Alright Frogadier, we did it." Ash said as he ran forward and embraced Frogadier while Grant recalled and thanked Onix for a hard-fought battle. "I knew we could do it and you evolved, that was amazing."
"Frogadier." Frogadier said as he embraced his trainer back knowing that they were one step closer to being fully in synch, it would take more time and many more wins but eventually they'd make it.
As always, Misty couldn't contain it when Ash won and vaulted over the barrier, throwing her pom poms down in the process, and ran towards Ash. Ash had just disengaged from Frogadier to let Riolu out as he was still active and could celebrate their win together when Misty reached him and again threw herself into his arms. Ash just smiled as he held his girlfriend and she kissed him passionately for the win while Riolu came out of his ball and began talking with Frogadier about what was going on and ignoring the odd human mating ritual.
The kiss lasted for a few seconds though not as long as it usually did after Ash won a battle like this. That was because almost as soon as they began a Poke Ball at her waist opened. As Misty was kissing Ash, she felt something on her shoulder and a second later she was yanked roughly away from him, much different to the usual awkward clearing of a gym leader's throat or an attack from Pikachu or Piplup that stopped their display of affection.
"Wha…" Misty began before Malamar slapped her hard across the face with her other tentacle and put Misty on her ass on the hard floor.
"Malamar." Malamar said shaking her head disapprovingly as she looked down on Misty. "Malamar."
"I think Malamar is saying that you shouldn't do that in public." May said trying to stifle her giggling as she and Serena made their way over to them while Grant just blinked in confusion at the strange sight. "She seems to be a chaperone for you of sorts, stopping you doing stupid or inappropriate things."
"Malamar." Malamar said with a nod confirming it, her trainer was skilled, but she did make mistakes and Malamar was here to correct them, including showing her affection for her mate when she shouldn't be as there were others present. "Malamar."
"Ok we are going to work on this Malamar." Misty grumbled rubbing her cheek as she continued to sit on the ground. "I get it when I do something stupid or make a mistake, but I should be allowed to make out with my boyfriend after he wins a gym badge. That is part of our tradition."
"Malamar." Malamar said shaking her head before she glided over and grabbed Misty by the back of her collar and dragged her off to her Pokémon while Piplup rolled on the floor laughing at Misty's plight. "Malamar."
"Oh, we are not done missy." Misty said folding her arms across her chest but not resisting the Overturning Pokémon as she dragged her. "Not in the slightest."
"Well, that was odd." Grant said as he reached them and held out a hand to Ash to shake which Ash did. "I've never seen a Malamar act like that before."
"Misty has some interesting Pokémon." Ash said with a shrug as they shook. "And an odd variety that you wouldn't expect from her as well."
"I can see." Grant said letting go of Ash's hand as his ref approached them holding a tray in his hands. "However, that was a great battle Ash, you really showed me all you had just as I wanted. Here is your proof of your win over the Cyllage Gym, the Cliff Badge."
Inside the tray was a gym badge that looked like three rectangles next to each other forming a sorta step like look with each rectangle having two colored squares. The far left one was dark brown over reddish brown, the middle light gray over dark brown and the right one reddish brown over dark brown. With a grin, Ash picked the badge up and struck his victory pose.
"Alright, I got the Cliff Badge!" Ash said triumphantly as he held the badge over his head, Frogadier and Riolu jumping up to join him in his celebration as they cheered with him.
"I look forward to seeing your progress Ash." Grant said with a smile. "Where are you heading next?"
"Geosenge Town for Serena's next Contest." Ash said. "And then it is onto Shalour City to face the gym leader there."
"Korrina will be a tough one." Grant said. "Her fighting spirit is hard to overcome. Good luck and until we meet again."
Grant held out his hand again and once again Ash shook it before Grant turned and walked away from them. Ash pulled out his badge case and put the Cliff Badge into its rightful place before he, May and Serena went to collect Misty who was now standing and arguing with Malamar and head back to the Pokémon Center.
They had to celebrate Ash's third gym badge and then in the morning it was on to Geosenge Town and Serena's next Contest. Things were going well for them. Nothing could stop them as they continued their journey. Little did any of them know in that moment what was in store for them when they neared Geosenge Town.
