Chapter 20: The Sixth Gym

Sakaki had arrived at Vermillion City. He thought the huge city would be the perfect place to enact his plan to keep Ruby, Hop and Ash distracted from their mission to find Giovanni. With so many people and so many Pokémon, he could cause all kinds of chaos here. While Saffron City was bigger, it would be foolish to try anything in a city that housed a Psychic-type specialist. Vermillion would be the better target.

Sakaki had four grunts with him while Giovanni had the remaining four. His squadron would be all he'd need to carry out his plan. He turned to the grunts.

"You all have your Drowzee as instructed?" he asked.

The grunts nodded and whipped out their Pokéballs. Sakaki held up the Pokéball containing his Hypno.

"Excellent." he purred, "Now let's see how many Pokémon we can hypnotize into attacking poor innocent civilians before Galar's reigning Champion finally steps in to help them…"

The top spy and his squad unleashed their Pokémon and got to work. With a Hypno and four Drowzee at their sides, they would have Vermillion City swarming with rampaging Pokémon all under their control and not even Lt. Surge would be able to contain the carnage. Ruby, Hop and Ash would HAVE to come and stop it themselves! And if they succeeded? They'd do it again the next day and keep at it until eventually they'd be too tired to look for Giovanni. And they certainly wouldn't be able to stop Giovanni from taking Mewtwo from June once she found it…


"Ironhide, let's go!" June cried, throwing her first Pokéball.

"Venomoth, infect the opposition!" Janine shouted as she threw her first Pokéball.

Both Pokémon emerged from their balls and onto the arena. It was going to be a battle of the bugs with this showdown and it was evident right from the start that June had the advantage. With Ironhide's Steel typing, Venomoth's Poison attacks would be useless. Unless Venomoth had some secret Scorbunny-out-of-a-hat it could pull, it wouldn't last long against the newly evolved Scizor.

Venomoth, true to its name, looked like a giant purple moth with large wings, three points on its head, round eyes and sharp fangs. They were Bug/Poison types and could be quite dangerous in battle. Janine and Venomoth eyed up their opponent with a feeling of discomfort.

"A Scizor? Ugh…I didn't anticipate something like this!" the ninja Gym Leader grumbled, "Trainers here even now very rarely use Steel-types so I don't have to fight them often. How did you acquire a Scizor?"

"I brought a Metal Coat with me when I travelled here." June explained, "It was the only way I was ever going to get a Scizor here in Kanto! So now as long as Ironhide's in play, your Poison attacks won't work!"

"Very clever foresight honoured challenger." Janine complimented, "My father would've said the same thing if he was here battling you now. But you're also short-sighted if you think a Steel-type will put the brakes on my strategies. Venomoth doesn't need Poison attacks to fight! Use Sleep Powder!" she barked.

"Argh, not again!" June cried in worry.

It was annoying enough when Erika had done that last time! Venomoth flapped its wings and blew a sleep inducing powder straight towards Ironhide. But June had an idea that would hopefully keep him from falling asleep.

"Use Swords Dance to dodge the attack!" she commanded.

Ironhide's claws shape-shifted into a pair of blades and he began swiping the air furiously while pirouetting and twirling across the floor like some graceful ballet dancer in a show. It had the intended effect. As Ironhide danced around, the powder couldn't blanket him and any powder that got close was instantly blown away. Trace and Tricia applauded June for a clever, quick-thinking tactic like that. It may have been on the spur of the moment, but it worked at least! Janine smirked, looking impressed with her challenger.

"Very crafty. You'd make a fine ninja with a sharp mind like that." she complimented.

"I'll admit, I just tried it and hoped it'd work." June confessed, "I wouldn't say it's down to "having a sharp mind" but thank you anyway."

"In a battle, improvisational skills can be just as handy as having a plan." Janine explained, "It helps to keep the opponent on their toes after all. Let's hope I can keep you on yours. Venomoth, distract it with Double Team!"

Venomoth obeyed and conjured up multiple shadow clones of itself that danced around the arena in front of Ironhide and shimmied around. Already June and Ironhide had lost sight of the real Venomoth and were struggling to pinpoint where it was. Flapping their wings, the Venomoths all flew around in a circle to make things more dizzying for Ironhide. The mighty Scizor watched them helplessly, wondering where to even start. As the Venomoth circle flew around him, they suddenly attacked with Bug Buzz. An ear-splitting buzzing sound tore through the Gym and June, Trace and Tricia had to hold their ears to try and ease the pain on them. Ironhide was barely effected as Bug attacks weren't very effective on him but if Venomoth kept attacking while he wasn't able to fight back, he'd be in a tough spot. How could he find the right one? June had an idea and hopefully it would work like the last one did.

"Mow them all down with Wing Attack!" she cried.

Ironhide charged into the circle of Venomoth and slashed through them with his wings. A loud buzzing sound emitted from the metal mantis's wings as he moved and attacked with them. He sliced through several fake Venomoth before eventually, he tagged the real one and cut into it viciously with his wing. Venomoth cried out in pain and was brought down to the floor in an instant. Thanks to Ironhide's boost from Swords Dance and his Technician ability making Wing Attack even stronger, it was a one-hit KO. Venomoth was down and it wasn't able to continue the fight. Janine's clan were surprised their leader had taken an early loss and all before the battle had even really had a chance to start. They could see that this girl really was the daughter of a Champion! June just smiled modestly, pleased with herself that things were going well so far.

"If we keep this up Ironhide, we'll have the Soul Badge in no time!" the Galarian girl cheered.

"Who knew a coat of armour and some big meaty claws would give me so much strength?" Ironhide purred, admiring himself over again, "I feel like I could fight an army at this point!"

"He'll probably try it too." Tricia joked.

Janine returned Venomoth to its Pokéball and threw another one. This time she'd chosen a Crobat. As it wasn't a Bug-type, Ironhide's Wing Attack wouldn't be super effective against this Pokémon. But once again, Ironhide's Steel-typing would render its Poison attacks useless so June was still confident she was on top of this battle.

"Nice one, we're against a Crobat!" June said excitedly, "My mum's got one too!"

"Yes, I know. I actually battled her Crobat." Janine informed, "Jinx I believe she called it. It was…a bizarre battle to put it mildly, but no doubt you know about that already."

"I've watched Jinx battle many times and even now I still have no idea how she pulls off half of her crazy stunts!" June laughed, "I think my favourite time was when she used Sky Attack by flying down from the sky and hitting someone with a baseball bat! That was so funny!"

"Sorry to disappoint but you won't get any laughs from my Crobat." Janine said bluntly, "She's as normal as you can get around here. Now let me show you how she battles! Use Confuse Ray!"

Crobat opened her mouth and emitted a beam that swept over Ironhide. June winced as Confuse Ray hit Ironhide and caused his senses to go all out of whack. His eyes crossed and tiny Pidgeys danced around his head, tweeting merrily. He swayed on his feet. He couldn't seem to figure out which way was up or if he was standing on the ceiling instead of the floor.

"Don't let Confuse Ray stop you!" June cried desperately, "Use Bullet Punch!"

Ironhide heard her command but he wasn't able to hit Crobat. He was too disoriented from Confuse Ray to land a hit. He just punched at the air several times, nowhere even close to Crobat, and eventually he banged himself on the head. He collapsed onto the floor and shook himself dopily.

"Oh gosh, what was that? It feels like I steel beam fell on me!" he cried, his voice slurred and dopy sounding.

"Just as I hoped for. He's completely out of it." Janine crowed, "Now to finish him off! Use Heat Wave!" she commanded.

"OH NO! She can use Heat Wave?!" June shrieked at the top of her voice.

"This is bad! Ironhide won't survive a hit like that!" Trace cried frantically, "Scizor have a double weakness to Fire!"

Crobat flapped her wings furiously and as she did, heated gusts of wind blew over Ironhide. It was like someone had started a fire and was fanning the flames in his direction. Still confused, he had no idea what was coming and he wailed in anguish as he was burnt by Heat Wave. His entire body felt as if it was about to melt. He'd never been in more pain than this in his life! Eventually, the winds died down and Ironhide collapsed onto his back. Burnt and boiled alive, he was in no shape to continue fighting. Janine just folded her arms and smirked in triumph.

"And thus victory is mine! The deadly ninja has struck and our scores are even!" she declared for no real reason other than to gloat about her win, "Show me your next move honoured challenger!"

June returned Ironhide to his Pokéball and looked down at him sadly.

"You did your very best and you handled yourself well for your first real Pokémon battle. Well done Ironhide." she said kindly. She put his Pokéball away and drew out another, "As for my next move Janine, here it is!" she cried.

She threw the ball and brought out Victoria to take on Crobat next. Trace and Tricia looked to each other and nodded. They both had come to the same conclusion: June had chosen wisely. Victoria's Poison typing meant Janine still couldn't use any Poison attacks as they wouldn't do much or poison Victoria at all and Victoria knew Thunder Punch, which was super-effective against Crobat. Now they had to hope Victoria wouldn't fall victim to Confuse Ray like Ironhide did. The mighty Nidoqueen pawed at the ground with her foot and Crobat gritted her teeth as both Pokémon prepared for battle.

"Use Confuse Ray!" Janine barked.

Crobat fired the disorienting beam at Victoria once more but June was ready for it this time. She ordered Victoria to dodge the status move by using Drill Run to spin out the way. Victoria was well out of harm's way before Confuse Ray even got close. She uncurled from Drill Run and then fought back by leaping up into the air and socking Crobat hard in the face with Thunder Punch. Crobat grimaced from the electrified blow and reeled back. She was still airborne and just as Victoria landed on the floor, Crobat fought back by using Heat Wave again. Janine may not be able to poison Victoria, but she hoped to inflict a burn at least. The blazing hot winds blew over Victoria and made her wince in pain. But she was able to handle it just fine and nothing else happened after the attack was finished. She'd luckily managed to avoid a burn this time but June didn't want to let Crobat have the chance to try again. She ordered Victoria to use Thunder Punch a second time. The mighty Nidoqueen launched herself into the air, jumping surprisingly high for a Pokémon of her size and weight. Even Janine's followers gasped in amazement.

Crobat dodged the attack just as Victoria punched at her. But Victoria just jumped back up and tried again. This time she landed a hit and punched Crobat a second time. The punch seemed to do more damage and cause more pain to Crobat than before. She lowered to the floor but was still able to remain airborne, just stopping herself from touching it. Janine could see that Victoria was too strong for her Crobat. As much as she didn't want to use her ace so soon, she had no choice. She ordered Crobat to use U-turn. Crobat flew rapidly towards Victoria, walloped her with her wings and then returned to Janine's Pokéball. In her place came out Janine's strongest Pokémon. June knew what this one was as well. How could she not recognize the fearsome appearance of a Drapion when her mother also owned one? She'd watched Scorponok in battle many times growing up so seeing Janine's Drapion in action was bound to be an interesting experience. What could this one do?

"You can tell Janine's feeling the pressure here." Trace whispered to his sister, "I get the feeling she didn't want to bring out Drapion just yet."

"She wouldn't have. Drapion's her ace." Tricia confirmed, "It's too early for her to bring it out. But I guess for Janine, she had no choice in the matter. It's either keep Crobat out and lose another Pokémon or bring Drapion out early and snatch back the lead."

"Whatever happens, I have a feeling June's in for a tough match." Ray said anxiously, "That Drapion looks pretty tough!"

June heard what Ray said and nodded agreeably.

"Drapion by their very nature are tough Pokémon. I should know given how powerful mum's is…" she murmured, "But you've made a serious error here Janine. Drapion are weak to Ground attacks!" she noted.

"Yes, I know, which is why MY Drapion can cover that weakness…" Janine crowed, "Use Ice Fang!"

June recoiled. Damn, she should've expected that! Ruby had taught Scorponok that very same move for the same reason! Drapion scuttled towards Victoria and opened its mouth very wide. Then an energy construct resembling ice coloured teeth formed around its face and lunged towards Victoria. It bit down on her and Victoria recoiled in pain as she was simultaneously bitten and chilled by the attack. She hugged herself and rubbed her arms furiously to get some warmth back into her body. June shivered, feeling the cold herself despite not being in battle. That Drapion was going to be trouble for her if she couldn't beat it now!

"Good shot, but we've got a better one!" June declared, "Use Drill Run!"

Victoria launched herself into Drapion and skewered it with her spinning drill-like attack. Drapion cried out and was left rubbing furiously at the spot where it'd been hit to ease off the pain. Janine even felt an instinctive need to rub herself better despite her Pokémon being the one who'd been attacked. Drapion watched Victoria to see what she'd do next. June was tempted to tell her to use Drill Run again but decided against it. That would be too predictable. So instead, she caught Janine off-guard by ordering Victoria to use Thunder Punch next. Victoria lumbered towards Drapion and socked it clean in the face with Thunder Punch. It had been a hard blow, but Drapion took it and retaliated by using Night Slash. Its claws turned black as it slashed at Victoria. She winced in pain, feeling as if Drapion had cut straight through her, but she was able to avoid it a second time.

Drapion tried again with Night Slash but Victoria bit down on its arm with Crunch. It wasn't effective as Drapion was half-Dark type but it caused enough pain in Drapion's arm to make it recoil and so Victoria was able to attack again. This time, June did order her to use Drill Run and she hoped this would score the winning hit. Victoria spun around and drilled into Drapion again. But to everyone's shock and amazement, Drapion suddenly grabbed onto Victoria as she was spinning! Its strong powerful claws held on tight and eventually it pressed down hard enough to make Victoria stop spinning. The Nidoqueen was caught and Drapion was too strong for her to break free of.

"Right where we want her!" Janine crowed, striking a combat pose as she spoke, "Finish her off with Ice Fang!"

Drapion bit down on Victoria. Up close like this, it was impossible for it to miss. Victoria yelled in pain as Drapion bit down on her and caused a freezing chill to shoot up her body again. It felt as she was being frozen alive. The chill was too much for Victoria to handle and as a result, she collapsed onto the floor and passed out. June couldn't believe her eyes. Her team was specially prepared to handle Janine, yet so far she was winning with two of June's knocked out while the rest of her team was still fighting fit! She really should know better than to underestimate her opponents! Janine's clan cheered for her and performed a martial arts dance to celebrate. Janine bowed to June, her eyes still fixed on the challenger.

"What will your next move be?" she asked daringly.

June returned Victoria to her Pokéball and whipped out her third ball.

"This one should be enough for me to turn things around." June said confidently, "Behemoth, now it's your turn!"

Her giant Onix was brought out to battle this time. Behemoth bellowed loudly at Drapion. His great height did little to intimidate his opponent. Drapion just dared him to fight. Once again, Behemoth had the advantage over Drapion but Drapion's Ice Fang still meant it wouldn't be as straight forward as that. June knew she still had to be careful.

"Here's hoping Behemoth can turn this around." Trace said anxiously.

"That big guy's tough. He can handle it." Ray said with the utmost certainty.

Behemoth and Drapion lashed out at one another as the battle began again…


News of Sakaki's plan reached Ruby, Hop and Ash incredibly quickly. At the time, they'd been flying over Saffron City for a second time just to see if the Silph Co. headquarters were OK and Team Rocket wasn't targeting it again. The building was just as they'd left it with some construction work still going on to repair the damage done during the battle with Giovanni. Ruby was glad to see this, but a part of her also wished Giovanni would target it again. At least then she, her husband and their friend would have somewhere to start with finally catching him. They hadn't found any leads on Giovanni and not so much as a whisper of Team Rocket in action again. Where on Earth could the remaining members be? Ruby was mostly worried about the possibility Giovanni might try and break all the captured Rocket grunts out of prison and undermine all her efforts in rounding them up. The longer he remained free, the greater the risk of that happening became.

"We've been searching for days and still no signs of him." Ruby sighed in exasperation, "You'd think with Team Rocket's headquarters raided and most of its members arrested, Giovanni and his remaining grunts would have nowhere to hide."

"I wonder if we're overlooking something." Hop said grimly, "We keep searching in the air and on land and have found no trace of him. So where can he possibly be hiding? I doubt he's run off to another region."

"The only place we haven't thought to look in is the water, but there's no way Giovanni could be hiding there." Ash thought aloud.

"Actually, maybe there is…" Ruby said thoughtfully, "I'm amazed we never considered the possibility of an underwater hideout. I know that's more Team Aqua's thing but still, Giovanni could've pulled one over us and hidden in one. It's the last place we would've thought to look!"

"So are you suggesting we go underwater?" Hop asked, "We'd need a submarine if we were to do that. And how would we possibly find any underwater bases? The ocean's huge! We could be searching for months!"

"We should go to Vermilion City Prison and ask any of the captured Rocket grunts if they know about any underwater bases." Ruby suggested, "Hopefully somebody knows about it. We'll perform one last sweep over Vermilion City and then we'll go."

But as they neared the city, their Rotom phones began to ping as emergency news reached them. Ruby, Hop and Ash answered and quickly saw why it was an emergency. There was news talking about wild Pokémon attacks running rampant all around Vermilion City. Nobody knew what was causing it to happen and why they were attacking. All three of them came to the same conclusion: they needed to stop this madness and fast! Doomsday took the trio into Vermilion City and Ruby, Hop and Ash could see right away that things were completely out of hand. All sorts of Pokémon were running rampant and just attacking trainers, cars or buildings for no real reason. There were Pokémon that lived in the wild Routes outside the city like Spearow, Magnemite, Bellsprout, Abra, Ekans, Sandshrew, Pidgey, Heracross and Meowth and there were Pokémon living in the waters by the shore like Goldeen, Tentacool, Tentacruel, Gyarados, Magikarp, Horsea, Krabby and Poliwag. Even some Drowzee and Hypno were attacking. Buildings were damaged, cars were blown apart and destroyed, bridges were smashed and many civilians were fleeing in terror. It was a scene of total carnage and Ruby was left wondering how this could've happened.

"This is complete madness!" she exclaimed, "What's going on here and why are the Pokémon doing this?!"

"Whatever the reason, we need to act now!" Hop declared "Hundreds of people and Pokémon are going to get seriously hurt or worse!"

"We've gotta stop this!" Ash agreed, "Pikachu, this'll be one for you and the team!"

"Pika!" Pikachu agreed.

"Quite so. The three of us will easily bring this chaos to a close…" Ruby said dryly.

The three trainers sent out their entire teams of Pokémon. Ruby had Bugs, Reaper, Shard, Houdini, Doomsday and her faithful Weavile Icepick for this job. Hop sent out Dubwool, Rillaboom, Zamazenta, Corviknight, Snorlax and Sandaconda and Ash sent out Pikachu, Charizard, Swellow, Infernape, Greninja and Lucario. Between them, they had 18 big powerhouses and no wild Pokémon would be a match for any of them.

"Take any and all rampaging Pokémon down quickly. Do NOT hurt them too much!" Ruby ordered, "They're clearly victims here and I don't want them to suffer any more than they already are!"

"I agree! Whatever this is, it's not their fault!" Ash concurred, "Everybody, let's go!"

Their Pokémon all charged into action to stop the rampage before it escalated any further…


Drapion was thrown down onto its back as Behemoth bombarded it with a powerful Rock Slide. The tussle between the rock snake and poisonous scorpion had already started off with some intense blows being traded and at the moment, Behemoth was on top. Nobody was particularly surprised with this for an Onix was always going to be a good match against a Drapion. Even Drapion's Ice Fang didn't really seem to slow Behemoth down much for his physical defences were too high for even a super-effective blow like that to do much. He could take the hits and while Drapion was also pretty bulky itself, it had taken damage from Victoria so its endurance wasn't as high as Behemoth's. Even Janine could tell that Drapion wasn't going to last much longer, but she was determined to do as much damage as possible before it went down.

Drapion picked itself up and the Ogre Scorpion Pokémon swiped at the air with its claws. It struck Behemoth full on with a powerful Night Slash but the bulky Onix shrugged off the blow and retaliated by using Iron Head. It slammed into Drapion with the newly learned attack, winding it heavily and causing it to flinch. Now it couldn't move, Behemoth was able to attack again by using Earthquake. He raised his tail high and smashed it down on the arena floor. The whole Gym trembled furiously as the ground shook and the huge tremor pounded into Drapion. It felt as if its skeleton was being shaken about inside its body. June fought to keep her balance while Janine amazingly managed to keep upright with her stance not faltering despite the furious shaking. Once the Earthquake was over, Drapion shook itself off and growled furiously. It looked to be down to the end of its stamina but it wasn't going down so easily.

"If this is to be our last move, let us make it count." Janine muttered. She threw a punch and extended two fingers, "Use Poison Fang!"

It was the one advantage Drapion had now Victoria and Ironhide were down and out: it was able to actually poison Behemoth as he had no immunity to it. Drapion scuttled furiously towards Behemoth, its spindly legs moving quickly across the battlefield. It then jumped up into the air. June gasped at how high the Poison/Dark Pokémon jumped up. Then Drapion landed on Behemoth and sank its fangs into the Onix's rock hard skin. Behemoth cried out in anguish as Drapion's fangs bit down into him. He was able to handle the pain but Drapion had the intended effect Janine was aiming for. Its Poison Fang had poisoned him! His body flashed purple as the poison sapped away some of his health. June felt nervous. Behemoth was still on top but Drapion's poison would still give him trouble later on. Janine still had two Pokémon left to fight with after Drapion and the poison would no doubt wear him down so she'd have to make every move she made count.

"I know the poison really hurts Behemoth, but you can win this match before it ever gets close to taking you down!" June cried reassuringly, "Use Dig!"

Behemoth buried his head into the floor and dug down under the Gym. He disappeared entirely and Drapion was left helplessly trying to anticipate its opponent's next move. Janine closed her eyes and kept still. Her senses had been honed to perfection, making her much more alert for oncoming danger than a regular human. Her ninja training paid off brilliantly for she was able to sense Behemoth coming before Drapion did.

"Directly below you! Dodge to one side!" she commanded.

Drapion scuttled away and Behemoth erupted from under the floor, sending planks of wood flying everywhere. But he didn't stop there. He may have missed Drapion initially but he could still land a hit due to how big and long he was. He lunged head first into Drapion and bashed it clean off its feet with a heavy slam. Drapion grunted as it was thrown down onto its back and while it was scurrying to get back up again, Behemoth took the opportunity to use another Iron Head attack. It bashed Drapion with its head a second time and threw it across the room. Drapion crashed down onto its back again and then just to add one final insult to injury, Behemoth bombarded the helpless Pokémon with one last Rock Slide. The rocks crashed down on top of it and finally, Drapion had reached the end of its strength. It wasn't able to carry on any longer. It collapsed onto the floor and passed out, evening the score for June. Both sides were down two Pokémon! Trace and Tricia cheered for their friend.

"Way to go June! Now you're evenly matched!" Trace cried.

"And considering Janine's ace is out earlier than expected, I think you're in a good spot now!" Tricia cried excitedly, "This match is all yours!"

June believed Tricia was right. Janine had a Crobat left and it was weak to both Behemoth and Ray's attacks and her fourth Pokémon likely wasn't anything to worry about. But Behemoth was still suffering from poison. There was a chance things could end badly for him. For now, she felt it safer to return him and send someone else out. Janine returned Drapion and sent out her fourth Pokémon that hadn't seen battle yet. It was an Ariados, a Pokémon resembling a pink and black spider first discovered in the Johto region. It had two structures on its back that looked similar to its spindly yellow and black legs and sharp fangs that could produce a wicked bite. Against an Onix, it would have no chance so June felt confident enough to keep Behemoth in battle. A single Rock Slide would surely defeat it!

She gave the command and Behemoth used Rock Slide. But to her surprise, the spider Pokémon scuttled out of the way of the falling rocks, moving surprisingly quickly for a Pokémon of its kind. The rocks crashed down all around it but every one of them missed. Ariados were known to be pretty slow Pokémon yet this one was proving to be the exception! Once it dodged the rocks, it sprayed a Toxic Thread attack at Behemoth. It was a move that poisoned and slowed down opponents. Behemoth was already poisoned but the poisonous webbing would slow him down a little. Behemoth felt it sticking to him and groaned as the poison sapped away some more of his health. He tugged on the web. He was strong enough to snap it but with how sticky it was, it would still slow him down a little. As he was breaking free of the web, Ariados further surprised June and her friends by speeding towards its opponent with Trailblaze. The spider Pokémon moved rapidly in a zig-zag pattern, leaving a trail of green behind itself, and then it slammed into Behemoth. He bellowed in pain and tumbled down onto his back. Trailblaze was a Grass-type move, which was incredibly bad news for Behemoth! If it had been a Special Attack, he wouldn't been down instantly. June could tell that with the poison and the damage from Trailblaze that Behemoth was not looking in good shape. She whipped out his ball and tried to return him but Behemoth shook his head. It was clear he didn't want to give up just yet. Nodding, June put the ball away.

"OK, I trust your judgement." June said supportively, "If you think you can do it, then I believe you can too! Use Dig!"

Behemoth dug down into the floor once again, going down the same hole he'd made before. Ariados stood still and wait to see if it could pick up where Behemoth was hiding. It felt the ground shudder beneath its feet and scuttled away before Behemoth could catch it. The Onix emerged from underground and Ariados rushed towards him with another Trailblaze attack. However, Behemoth had leapt into the air when coming out of the hole so he dodged Ariados in a neat little arch through the air. He landed and the weight of him crashing down onto the floor caused the whole Gym to shudder again. Ariados lost its balance and fell flat onto its stomach. Now it was down, Behemoth used Rock Slide again and this time, he scored a direct hit. Ariados screeched feebly as the rocks crashed down on top of it. The single blow was enough to knock it clean out. Behemoth stood victorious once again and Janine was now down to her last Pokémon. Her supporters all murmured to one another in surprise while Trace and Tricia cheered for her. June was equally as thrilled.

"Alright, I'm doing it! Just one more left and we're walking out with another Gym badge!" she cheered.

"Janine may as well give up!" Ray crowed, "She only has a Crobat left and that can't possibly beat Behemoth!"

But June wasn't so sure. Behemoth was suffering badly from poison. He winced again as it sapped away more of his health. He panted heavily. He looked as if he could barely stay awake. June felt it would be cruel of her to keep him in battle like this so it was kinder to withdraw him for now. She returned him to his Pokéball and called Ray up for the finish. It only made sense after all. Crobat were weak to Electric attacks so this was an easy win for Ray. But as Janine brought Crobat back onto the field, June knew there was one problem: Ray wasn't immune to poison so unlike with Victoria, he had something else to deal with. Also her Confuse Ray would likely cause problems. She couldn't get too cocky and assume like she'd done against Misty days ago.

"We must be careful Ray." June warned, "One Confuse Ray and our game could be thrown clean off. Let's make this quick and easy with Zippy Zap!"

Janine shared the same confusion as all of June's other opponents who had seen her use it. Zippy Zap was no move she'd ever heard of. Ray surrounded himself with electricity and then rocketed straight into Crobat. He was moving much too fast for her to dodge so the purple bat Pokémon was hit and brought down to the ground instantly. Crobat grimaced, her body stinging as a result of the attack. Janine retaliated by ordering Crobat to use Sludge Bomb. The poisonous bat opened her mouth and fired exploding mud balls at Ray. Ray yelped in alarm and quickly ran out of the way to dodge the exploding sludge. Each one blew up as it hit the floor just inches behind him, causing Ray to yell each time it happened. The whole scene looked very comical, like something out of a cartoon as the hero tried to avoid being bombed by his enemy.

"Yikes! Watch it with those, ya almost hit me!" the spiky-haired Pikachu exclaimed frantically.

The last one hit the floor just at his heels and the explosion punched into him. He was thrown off his feet and he crashed down face first into the floor. His body flopped down heavily and he groaned.

"And ya finally hit me. Good shot." he muttered sarcastically.

"We've still got this!" June cried optimistically, "Use Zippy Zap again!"

Ray picked himself up and rocketed into Crobat a second time. He hit her full on and knocked her down onto the floor again. Crobat lay in a heap on the floor and winced in pain. The damage she'd taken from Victoria had already worn her out and two super-effective blows from Ray had practically left her on the edge of fainting. Janine knew that she'd never beat June with Crobat looking so weak now but if she was to lose, she'd at least go out and take Ray with her first! Ray prepared to attack again but then suddenly, Crobat used Confuse Ray before he could make another move. The ray swept over June's sassy Pikachu and he was instantly plunged into confusion. He smiled dopily and swayed on his feet. He looked drunk rather than confused.

"Hey, why's the ceiling down here and the floor's up there ma?" he asked, grinning gormlessly.

"I was afraid of this!" June cried worriedly, "Ray, please snap out of it! You must snap out of it!"

"Let us seize our moment!" Janine exclaimed, placing her hands together and thrusting them out in a double flat-palmed strike, "Use Sludge Bomb again!"

Crobat bombarded Ray with exploding dirt balls again and with him completely confused, he had no chance of dodging them. Sludge Bomb hit and Ray was bombarded by the attack. He was brought down onto his back and he lay there giggling inanely as if the whole thing had been some kind of hilarious joke to him.

"Hey ma, that's a lovely massage you're giving me! Mind pummelling me more vigorously? That'll sort my aching muscles out!" he giggled feebly.

"Ray please, you've got to snap out of it!" June begged, "Listen to my voice! Don't let Confuse Ray throw you off your game! Do you hear me? SNAP OUT OF IT!" she shrieked at the top of her lungs.

But Ray was still too confused to take heed of June's commands. He lay where he was, unable to fight back. Seizing her moment, Janine commanded Crobat to use another Sludge Bomb. She hoped to keep it up until Ray fainted. Crobat scored another hit on the confused Pikachu. He was bombarded by the Sludge Bomb and he lay on the floor, still looking dopy and on the verge of passing out. He couldn't take another blow. This was surely going to be it! Frantically, June screamed at him again.

"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!"

That seemed to finally have an effect. Just as Crobat was about to use Sludge Bomb again, Ray stood up and blinked heavily. When his eyes opened again…they were completely focused. He was no longer confused. Crobat launched her Sludge Bomb but Ray was able to dodge them again now he was aware they were coming. He smirked at Janine.

"Sorry cute ninja woman, but this Chu ain't confused no more!" he gloated.

"You snapped out of it! Hooray!" June cried excitedly, "Now finish this battle with Zippy Zap!"

Ray rocketed straight into Crobat with his electric-powered tackle attack and finally took down his opponent. The Poison/Flying Pokémon collapsed onto the floor, wiped out and unable to fight again. Despite the valiant battle she'd put up, it hadn't been enough. Janine could see that June was victorious and she showed no signs of anger or disappointment in acknowledging that. She just returned Crobat to her Pokéball and bowed in respect.

"And so the mighty ninja has been bested by a superior opponent. It has truly been my honour to face you June, and I have no shame in being bested by you. You've more than earned your victory here today at Fuchsia Gym."

"Thank you very much Janine!" June cried happily.

She scooped Ray up in her arms and tossed him up into the air excitedly. Ray laughed as he fell back into June's arms and she cuddled him tightly.

"Hooray, we've won our sixth Gym Badge! Can you believe it?! We've nearly beaten the entire Gym Challenge!" June shrieked with joy.

"Only two badges left and we're in the big league!" Ray hollered, "Whoo hoo, go us! How are we so close already?!"

"Beats me!" June replied with a laugh, "It feels like yesterday since I started this journey and now here we are just two badges away from entering the Indigo Plateau!"

"I can practically see you and Trace there already." Tricia said happily.

Janine handed June the Soul Badge. It was pink in colour and shaped like a fuchsia heart. June thought it looked quite cute and would look very nice in her badge case. She looked forward to showing it and her other badges to her parents next time she saw them. She began to wonder how they were doing. Hopefully they were closer to finding and arresting Giovanni right now.

"Now you're done June, it's my turn!" Trace said eagerly, "Me and my team are really fired up for this match!"

"In that case, I shall battle you with my second time to allow my first team to rest." Janine declared, "I wonder if you will be as strong as June was in her battle."

"I'm not holding back, that's all I can tell ya!" Trace cried confidently, "Let's go!"

June took her place beside Tricia so they could watch Trace battle. Ray watched too, sitting by June's feet. When Trace had had his battle, the trio could leave Fuchsia City and catch a boat to the Cinnabar Islands. It was too far to go by Pokémon and it would give them a well-deserved rest so it would be better to go by boat. June hoped that once they arrived, Blaine would be able to point them in Mewtwo's direction. She opened her bag to look at the Master Ball again, relieved to still have it after losing it to Sakaki the other day.

Don't you worry Mewtwo. I'll catch you and keep you safe from Team Rocket! They'll never get their hands on you… she swore.


June and Trace have their Soul Badges and are on their way to Cinnabar Islands to meet Blaine, the Fire Gym Leader, and maybe find out where Mewtwo is too. But Giovanni's on their trail and Ruby, Hop and Ash have their hands full dealing with Sakaki's mess for now. What will happen next? Find out as we reach the "Cinnabar Islands"...

Trivia: Janine has used a Drapion in Gym rematches in the Gold and Silver remakes, hence why she uses it here. It knowing Ice Fang is made up by me.

Also Janine confirming her Crobat's gender is true to the games. All her Pokémon are female and are ALWAYS all female no matter how many times you face her. Also her Crobat does know Heat Wave in Gym Rematches or in the World Tournaments in Black and White, so I reflected that here. I like to think she taught it Heat Wave to not only shoo off Ice-types but to also deal with Steel-types that render its poisons useless.

Also Ariados using Trailblaze is down to the fact it can learn that move in Scarlet and Violet. About time it got a physical Grass attack it can use to shoo off Rock-types That would give it trouble!