"You want to challenge Lady Whitney? Here?!" One of the girls exclaimed with a laugh. "Do you have any idea what you're even up against?!"
"Nope, mind if I find out?" Ash asked, pulling out his Pokedex.
"If you really want to, I don't have a problem with it." Whitney said.
'Miltank, the Milk Cow Pokemon, a Normal Type. Its milk is packed with nutrition, making it the ultimate beverage for the sick or weary.' The Pokedex explained.
"Alright Pikachu, let's start off strong. Use Thunderbolt!" Ash called out.
"Miltank use Attract!"
Miltank gave a wink that put Pikachu into a daze, stopping him from completing his attack.
"Pikachu snap out of it and use Thunderbolt!"
"Miltank use Stomp!"
Miltank rushed forward, slamming her hoof down on the electric type to deal massive amounts of damage.
"Pikachu use Thunder!"
"Miltank use Stomp!"
Miltank slammed her hoof down again, only to get zapped by Pikachu's electricity, causing the Milk Cow Pokemon to stumble off of Pikachu and onto her back.
"Now Pikachu use Quick Attack!"
"Miltank use Milk Drink!"
Miltank drank her own milk as Pikachu tried to regain his footing to strike the normal type.
"Now Miltank use Rollout!"
"Pikachu use Thunderbolt!"
Pikachu finally snapped out of his infatuation, sending out a bolt of electricity, moments before being launched into the air by Miltank's rollout.
"Pikachu use Thunder!"
Pikachu realigned himself, generating massive amounts of electricity before Whitney's Miltank rolled into the air, slamming into Pikachu before rocketing the electric type into the wall.
"Serves you right, thinking you could take on Lady Whitney, you can't win without more bulk than just a Pikachu!" One girl taunted.
"Ash, I know I should have told you, please don't be mad." Whitney apologized.
"You're right you should have told me, you've seen almost all of my tactics, I'll need an entirely new plan to even take you on." Ash admitted. "Our fight isn't over, and I don't plan on leaving here without your badge, wether or not you want me to."
"I'll be waiting then." Whitney sighed, as Ash went his seperate way.
Back at the Pokemon Center
"So you tried taking on Whitney I see." One of the Nurse Joys said.
"How'd you know?" Ash asked.
"A lot of trainers come in with their Pokemon in a similar condition to that of Pikachu." The Nurse Joy said. "Don't worry, he'll be fine in no time."
"That's not my worry, I don't even know how to begin countering that." Ash groaned.
"Not many trainers can, her Miltank is on par with even Pokemon like Venusaur and Blastoise." Nurse Joy admitted.
"Fully evolved, and traditional starter Pokemon, great." Ash sighed. "Thanks for treating Pikachu though."
"Of course, we'll make sure he's feeling better in no time, don't worry about it." The Nurse Joy said, walking off to check on other Pokemon.
"You were trying to warn me about her, and I wouldn't listen." Ash sighed, as Cassie reappeared in front of him.
"I don't know how you did it, but can you not turn me off again, it was really annoying that you refused to see or speak to me that whole time." Cassie complained. "But yes, I had heard about other trainers whining of her."
"And I thought you were just trying to be overprotective." Ash sighed.
"We learn all the time." Cassie reminded. "I get you have reason not to trust me since my snooping can get a bit much, but I did promise I would keep it to a minimum."
"No, I need to learn to trust you and your knowledge on these things. It's different this time around, but right now my biggest concern is figuring out how to counter that Miltank of hers, I don't even know who can hit her hard enough to deal the necessary damage." Ash admitted.
"What about the reserves?" Cassie asked.
"I want to try at least give everyone a chance before I bring in the reserves to fight this battle." Ash sighed, pulling out his Pokedex.
"What is it?" Cassie asked, looking over Ash's shoulder.
"Miltank is a normal type, that mean that the one good type against her at least offensively is the fighting type, like Egguardo, but defensively we know that the best types are Rock and more importantly ghost." Ash said, looking at the type chart. "Also Steel type, whatever that is."
"Well you have Misdreavus for the ghost aspect, but she isn't known for hitting all that well." Cassie reminded.
"I… I have an idea." Ash said deep in thought. "Remember back in Lavender Town?"
"All the creepy ghost hunters?" Cassie asked.
"Exactly, but there is one who wasn't creepy or a ghost hunter, aside from me at least, and he did say he was a gym leader here in Johto." Ash said with a smirk.
"How do you plan on contacting him exactly?" Cassie asked.
"I honestly don't know, but I figure I can ask around, someone has to know how to contact him." Ash admitted in a serious tone.