Hey everyone, I know it's late, but Happy New Year! Did everyone enjoyed their year? I know I did, aside from being busy with work. Honestly, why are there so many holidays so close to the end of the year? Because of that, work has been pretty hectic that I couldn't find any time to write. Follow that with school starting up again, I found even less time. And don't get me started with my personal life, which ate up the rest of my time. I realize I'm ranting and I apologize for both that and my late updates. I believe I've kept you waiting long enough, my precious readers, on with the chapter!
Chapter Five: A Family Squabble
The next day finds Ryan in the gym's battlefield, facing a challenger that came early in the morning. Over in the bleachers were Ash, Misty, Brock, his grandfather, and the gym staff. Ryan currently had Ariados out while his challenger had a monkey-like pokemon with purple fur and the end of its tail was a three-fingered hand. Ryan's challenger had his hands clenched into fists and a bead of sweat on his face.
"Aipom, Fire Punch let's go!" The challenger ordered before the monkey pokemon jumped into the air. As Aipom descended towards Ariados, it clenched its hand tail into a fist before being engulfed in flames.
"Ariados, agility!" Ryan countered, watching as Ariados vanished seconds before Aipom's attack connected. The monkey pokemon looked around frantically as Ariados appeared behind it. "Psybeam!"
"Aria!" The long leg pokemon's horn glowed in rainbow colors before releasing the beam.
"Dodge it, Aipom!" The challenger called out urgently.
Aipom looked over its shoulder in confusion before being struck by the attack. The monkey let out a shriek of surprise and pain. Once Ariados ceased the attack, Aipom wobbled, doing a small dance before falling back. Once the monkey pokemon's back hit the ground, Tony ran over to inspect it. Upon seeing the swirls in Aipom's eyes, he raised a flag towards Ryan.
"Aipom is unable to battle, Ariados wins!" Tony declared, pointing the flag in Ryan's direction with a proud smile on his face. "That means the victor is Ryan the gym leader!"
"We won!" Ryan cheered, running over to Ariados and knelt down to pet it on the head. "You were amazing Ariados, great job!"
"You okay, Aipom?" The challenger asked worriedly, the monkey pokemon in his arms. Aipom opened its eyes and smiled at its trainer before climbing on his head.
"That was a great battle." Ryan said, approaching the challenger and held out a hand for a handshake. "I hope you'll come challenge me again."
"Count on it." The challenger nodded, shaking Ryan's hand and giving him an appraising look. "You know, I had my doubts when I first walked in."
"I get that." Ryan chuckled sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck as he remembered the doubts the elderly people had of him being gym leader.
"However, after our battle, I'm definitely challenging you again." With that said, the challenger let go of Ryan's hand before walking towards the exit.
"A most excellent battle, Ryan." Ryan's grandfather said, approaching his grandson to tousle his hair. "Were you training late again last night?"
"Hehe, maybe a little." Ryan admitted, a sheepish grin on his face as he remembered training the previous night. His grin faltered into a look of deep thought as he remembered his conversation with Ash.
"Something wrong?" Ryan's grandfather asked, raising an eyebrow upon seeing Ryan was lost in his thoughts.
"Huh?" Ryan snapped out of it and looked up at his grandfather before forcing a smile. "It's nothing, just thinking of new battle tactics."
"I see." Ryan's grandfather simply said, knowing for a fact that his grandson wasn't telling him the truth.
"He's really improved." Misty commented, recounting the whole gym battle and Ryan's composure. "He didn't lose his cool this time."
"Probably thanks to Ash." Brock said, giving the raven haired trainer a smile. "Battling you most likely helped Ryan be more excited than nervous during gym battles."
"Maybe." Ash frowned, watching Ryan return Ariados to its pokeball before pocketing it.
"Something wrong, Ash?" Misty asked, noticing the frown on her friend's face.
"It's just…" Ash muttered, recalling his conversation he had with Ryan last night. He lowered the tip of his hat as they got to their feet and approached Ryan and his grandfather. "I don't think he's enjoying pokemon battles like he should."
"Hey Ash." Ryan greeted, missing the look of confusion on Misty's face as he grinned at the raven haired trainer. "You guys want to get something to eat for lunch?" He pointed a thumb over his shoulder to a Ghastly-shaped clock that had its tongue sticking out and waving back and forth. "I know this great restaurant that makes great food."
"That sounds like a great idea." Ryan's grandfather interjected, speaking for their guests as he made a shooing motion with his hand. "You all go enjoy while I stay here, I have a few things to take care of."
"Okay, I'll bring back your favorite, grandpa." Ryan said before leading Ash and his friends out of the battlefield. "I guarantee you guys will love this place, I go every chance I get."
"I can't wait." Misty said, smiling down to Togepi in her arms. "Right, Togepi?"
"Toge togepriiii!" Togepi chirped cheerfully, waving its small stubby arms.
"They even have a play area for pokemon." Ryan added, guiding them out of the gym and through the streets of Hemlock town.
"That sounds nice." Brock said, holding his chin thoughtfully at the idea. "The pokemon can have fun and get exercise after they eat."
"Yeah, Nauxeon especially loved the slide when he was an Eevee." Ryan nodded, looking up to the sky as he remembered his time playing with his partner.
"That reminds me," Ash said, moving to walk beside Ryan as he and Pikachu looked at him curiously. "How did you and Nauxeon meet?"
"Oh, now that's a story." Ryan chuckled as they neared a building that was a family restaurant. On top of it was a statue of Vileplume wearing an apron and holding up a serving tray. "Believe it or not, Nauxeon was just an egg when I first got him."
"An egg?" Ash, Misty, and Brock repeated, now curious as to where the egg came from and who gave it to Ryan.
"Yup." Ryan nodded, entering the restaurant before a waiter greeted them and guided them to a table. "He was a birthday present from my parents."
"Your parents sent you a pokemon egg as a present?" Ash asked, remembering that Ryan's parents left town when he was a baby.
"Yeah, they never failed to send me a present every birthday." Ryan replied, accepting the menu the waiter passed out to them before leaving. He opened his menu and sifted through the selection of dishes to order. "It's because of those gifts that I know they still care for me."
"Still care for you?" Misty looked at Ryan with a look of confusion at the young gym leader's choice of words.
"I never really knew them." Ryan explained, looking up in thought as he just realized something. "Come to think of it, they didn't send me anything for my birthday this year."
"Is that really important right now?" Misty let out an exasperated sigh at how nonchalant Ryan was being. "Your parents pretty much abandoned you when you were a baby."
"I've come to terms about that already." Ryan shrugged, nodding as he made his decision before closing his menu. He then looked Misty in the eyes with a frown on his face. "Also, despite what it looks like, they didn't abandon me."
"Okay, let's stop there." Brock said, quickly cutting off whatever Misty was going to say next.
"Man, all this looks good." Ryan, Misty, and Brock looked over to Ash to see he was still looking through his menu. He scratched the back of his head with a lost look on his face. "I don't know what to get."
'He didn't hear a word we said, didn't he?' Brock, Misty, and Ryan all thought, sweatdropping at the raven haired trainers' obliviousness of their conversation.
"I recommend the hamburg steak." Ryan said, pointing to the item in question on Ash's menu. "The way they season it and how it's grilled makes my mouth water every time."
With the tension of the previous subject now broken, Brock and Misty also made their choices. Feeling like their pokemon could use some fun, the trainers decided to let them out of their pokeballs. Ryan watched as Misty inched away from Ariados with an uncomfortable face. Ash and Brock were quick to explain that Misty had a fear of bug pokemon.
Ryan watched as Nauxeon guided their pokemon to where the play area was. He chuckled when Togepi tried to wander off only for Pikachu to pick it up and followed Nauxeon. The young gym leader could guess that Togepi gets into a lot of trouble without someone watching it. Well, that tends to be the case of baby pokemon, they're naturally curious.
Time passed quickly as the group of trainers finished their meal and were just conversing with each other. It quickly went to what the others dreams for the future were. Ash proudly said he was going to be the world's best pokemon master. Brock wanted to be the world's best pokemon breeder, which Ryan thought suited him. Misty wanted to be a water pokemon master, which explained why most of her pokemon were water-types. Then Ryan told them he wanted to be a poison pokemon master, and to make the Hemlock gym the best gym in all of Johto.
As they talked about their dreams and why they decided on them, it quickly became an argument between Ryan and Misty. The reason being that they started talking about pokemon in particular and Tentacool came up. At first, he and Misty were in agreement about how great Tentacool and its evolved form Tentacruel were. But then came which type they thought was the best of the two.
"Are you hearing yourself?!" Misty shouted, slamming her hands onto the table as she glared at Ryan. The boy in question didn't even flinch as he glared back at her. "Obviously Tentacool and Tentacruel are great because of their water typing!"
"That's what you think." Ryan waved off Misty's statement, also placing his hands on the table as he got to his feet. "But the true reason Tentacool and Tentacruel are great is because they're poison-types."
"If they weren't water-types, they wouldn't survive in the water." Misty countered, leaning forward to further prove her point. "Their bodies are mostly water, making blending in a simple task for them!"
"But it's because they're poison-types that they can defend themselves!" Ryan asserted, also leaning forward, not willing to back down. "When compared to that, splashing a little water isn't gonna do much!"
Ash and Brock sat awkwardly to the side as their group got odd looks from the other patrons and staff. You can practically see sparks flying from their eyes as he glared at each other. For the patrons and staff, it was rare to see Ryan so heated in a conversation, or argument in this case, that he forgot where he was.
"You guys agree with me, right?" Ryan and Misty asked, turning their attention to Ash and Brock when they were making no headway against the other.
Ash and Brock just laugh awkwardly, not sure whose side to take. While they knew Misty the most, they also knew Ryan made some good points. Knowing they weren't going to get an answer, Ryan and Misty returned to their argument. The two kept going back and forth with their points of view. It eventually got to the point that they were now on the verge of butting heads.
"This isn't getting us anywhere." Ryan said, pulling out a pokeball, momentarily forgetting it was empty. "How about we battle, and the winner is right?"
"Sounds good to me." Misty nodded, also pulling out an empty pokeball before holding it out towards Ryan. "Get ready, cause I'm gonna show you water pokemon are the best!"
However, before they could move to get their pokemon, there was the sound of an explosion that shook the building. There were startled screams from the people as they started to panic. Smoke then started to flood in as the people hurried to get out for fear there was a fire.
Ryan noticed there was something off about the smoke. Upon closer examination, he found it wasn't smoke from a fire. He was familiar with this kind of smoke, seeing how one of his pokemon uses something similar. Realizing the smoke was coming from the pokemon play area, Ryan ran over followed by Ash and his friends.
Once the automatic doors opened, the group was engulfed in a large wave of smoke. They quickly covered their mouths, coughing when some smoke got in their lungs. Ryan peered inside to see their pokemon trapped in a net. He also saw two humanoid and three pokemon silhouettes. When the smoke cleared, he saw that it was Team Rocket that created the smoke using Weezing.
"Not you guys again." Ryan frowned, casting a concerned look over to his pokemon before glaring at Team Rocket. "I thought I sent you guys flying already."
"Well, it'll take more than that to get rid of us." Jesse said arrogantly, resting a hand on her hip as Arbok hissed at Ryan.
"We're so used to blasting off that we're experts on the subject." James said cheerily, earning a smack on the head from a hammer, courtesy of Jessie.
"Don't sound so happy about that!" Jessie yelled, resting the hammer on her shoulder as she looked down at James.
"Is he okay?" Ryan asked, sweatdropping at what he just witnessed, wondering where Jessie was hiding the hammer.
"He's fine." Misty said, waving off Ryan's question before turning her attention back to Team Rocket. "But forget about that, we need to get our pokemon back!"
"Right." Ryan nodded in agreement, looking over to his pokemon, specifically Grimer. "Grimer, time to give them the slip!"
"Don't bother." Meowth grinned, inspecting his claws without a care in the world. "There's no way they're gonna break that net."
"Who said anything about breaking it?" Ryan asked rhetorically, a grin on his face while Team Rocket looked at him in confusion.
Grimer grinned as well, relaxing its body as the net around it sank into its body. Jessie, James, and Meowth looked behind them in shock to see Grimer out of the net. Wasting no time, Grimer gripped the net and pulled it off its fellow pokemon. Now free, Ariados and Nauxeon quickly freed Ash and his friends' pokemon as well. Team Rocket started to panic as they were surrounded on all sides.
"No choice then." Jessie growled, getting over her panic as she looked over at James. "We'll have to take the pokemon by force!"
"Of course." James nodded, pulling out a pokeball before tossing it. "Victreebel!"
Once again, Ryan sweatdropped at what he was seeing, he was joined by Ash, his friends, even Jessie and Meowth. What they were seeing was Jame being attacked by his own Victreebel. The upper half of his body was in Victreebel's mouth as he struggled to get out. James was saying something, but Ryan couldn't make it out because it was being muffled. The young gym leader then frowned as he took a closer look at Team Rocket's pokemon. More specifically, he was looking at Arbok, Weezing, and Victreebel as James got himself free.
"Well, now that that's done." Jessie said dismissively, turning her attention back to Ash, his friends, and Ryan. "Time to battle!"
"Bring it on!" Ash challenged as their and Team Rocket's pokemon charged towards each other.
"Hold it!" Ryan sudden said, causing the pokemon to screech to a halt as he marched towards Team Rocket's pokemon. Once he was in front of them, Ryan quickly inspected the pokemon.
"What is he doing?" Jessie asked, utterly confused at seeing the young gym leader running his hands over Arbok's body.
"No clue." James shrugged as Ryan moved over to Weezing and Victreebel. He was surprised when the boy stuck his head into Victreebel's mouth.
"I thought so." Ryan nodded, gently patting Weezing before holding it his chin in thought. He then looked at Jessie and James with appraising eyes. "You guys took great care of these guys, I can tell."
"You can?" Jessie and James asked, looking at each other in confusion.
"Yeah, it's obvious." Ryan replied, looking over the poison pokemon again. "But I have noticed that they're a little malnourished."
"Is he seriously giving their pokemon a check-up?" Misty sweatdropped, picking up Togepi when it waddled over to her.
"We're kinda in the middle of a battle here." Ash said, also sweatdropping as he stared at Ryan.
"What exactly are you feeding them?" Ryan questioned, a look of irritation as he marched towards Jessie and James.
"Well, uh…" James stammered, unsure of what to say as he looked at Jessie for help.
"Uh, we kinda…" Jessie nervously looked at the boy, suddenly feeling he was much bigger than they were.
"What kind of trainers are you?!" Ryan yelled, causing Jessie and James to flinch as he pointed at them. "It's a trainer's job to make sure their pokemon are healthy above all else!" He then pointed at Arbok, Weezing, and Victreebell who were awkwardly standing to the side. "And yet your pokemon looked like they're just getting by!"
"Nauxeon." Nauxeon sighed, choosing to sit beside Meowth who looked a little scared.
"What do you mean 'here we go'?" Meowth questioned, looking at the poison point pokemon who watched his trainer scolding Jessie and James.
"Nauxeon eon naux nau nauxeon nauxe nauxeon, nau nauxe nau nauxeon." Nauxeon said, confusing the trainers who heard while Meowth nodded along.
"What did Nauxeon say?" Brock asked, wanting to know what the poison point pokemon was saying.
"Apparently, whenever that kid sees an unhealthy poison pokemon, he scolds their trainers." Meowth translated, a slight shrug of his shoulders while Nauxeon nodded in confirmation.
"Now, if you understood anything I just said…" Ryan said, taking a deep breath as he finished his lecture. He pointed at Jessie and James, who were now holding each other in fear. "Prostrate yourselves and apologize to your pokemon!"
"Yes sir!" Jessie and James quickly went to their pokemon and were about to apologize when they realized something. They quickly backtracked to Ryan and looked angrily at him. "Hey, we're the grown-ups here, why are we scolded like children?!"
"Enough of this." Jessie said, looking over towards Arbok. "Arbok, poison sting!"
"Weezing, sludge attack, vine whip Victreebel!" James added, ready to get back to the battle at hand.
"Pikachu, thunderbolt!" Ash quickly ordered when Team Rocket's pokemon charged towards them.
"Piiiikaaachuuuuuu!" Pikachu's cheeks sparked with built up electricity before releasing bolts of lighting.
The lightning bolts struck the charging pokemon, pushing them back towards their trainers. Jessie, James, and Meowth panicked at the quickly approaching electrified pokemon. When they collided, Team Rocket were also electrified before exploding. The force of the explosion was enough to send them literally flying through the roof and into the sky.
"Looks like Team Rocket's blasting off again!" Team cried out as they became a twinkle in the sky.
"I'm so sorry for all this." Ryan apologized to the restaurant owner, bowing profusely as they stood outside to see smoke coming out of the building. "I promise my gym will pay for all the damages."
"Don't worry about it, it's not your fault, Ryan." The owner said, waving his hand as he looked around at the crowd. "All that matters is that all the people and pokemon are alright." He then pulled out a brochure with a smile. "Besides, I can use this as an excuse to visit some well known hot springs while my restaurant is being repaired!"
"That's convenient." Brock commented while watching Ryan insisting to pay for the replairs.
"Yeah." Misty nodded in agreement, adjusting her hold on Togepi.
"Team Rocket just doesn't learn." Ash said, looking up at the damaged roof of the restaurant.
"Ryan." The boy turned to see his grandfather walking towards him. He was a little disturbed by the serious look on his grandfather's face. "Take a walk with me."
"Uh, okay." Ryan nodded, recalling his pokemon to their pokeballs before walking towards his grandfather.
"Wonder where they're going." Misty said thoughtfully as she watched the grandfather and grandson pair in confusion.
"Let's follow them!" Ash said, getting nods of agreement from Brock and Misty as they followed the duo.
"Grandpa, where are we going?" Ryan asked, looking around curiously as they walked past various stores in the town.
"You'll see." Ryan's grandfather replied cryptically, not once looking at Ryan as a serious look adorned his face.
Ryan just continued to look around, waving back to the store owners who waved to him and his grandfather. He recognized most of the stores they walked past being the ones he visited frequently. Particularly, the wares of the stores he visited were where he bought his travel gear. Ryan reached into his pocket that held his pokeballs and gave them a gentle squeeze.
This action didn't go unnoticed by his grandfather, who gave the young gym leader a side glance. They eventually stopped at a bakery to buy a few candied apples, knowing they're Ryan's favorite, before continuing their walk. Ryan happily ate a candy apple that was covered in crushed nuts, feeling nostalgic of the first time he ate one. Once he was halfway finished, Ryan noticed they stopped at a park.
"This brings back memories." Ryan looked at his Grandfather to see he was sporting a nostalgic smile on his face. "This is where you used to play a lot when you were very little."
"Oh yeah." Ryan looked around the park, watching a few kids playing with their pokemon. He could also see a few having a picnic with their parents. "I remember I was a handful back then."
"You were." Ryan's grandfather gave a slight chuckle, remembering taking care of a two-year-old Ryan when he scraped his knee. "I can't count the number of times you got hurt." He then saw a little boy playing with a Vileplume and Bellsprout. "But you always cheered up when a pokemon got near you."
"Yeah." Ryan nodded in agreement, remembering how when he was upset, he always found himself surrounded by pokemon. Just the sight of so many was enough to cheer him up, especially when they were poison pokemon. "I think it was because of them I decided to be a trainer."
Ryan's grandfather just nodded in agreement as he thought back to Ryan's early childhood. He remembered the young boy always saying that he wanted to be a trainer. Ryan always talked about traveling to different cities and towns to learn everything about poison pokemon. It wasn't until the boy turned seven that Ryan declared he would be a poison pokemon master, something even his grandfather hadn't achieved.
The more time Ryan spent with poison pokemon, the more curious he got about the world. He always asks himself if there are poison pokemon he's never seen before. The more he asks himself this question, the stronger the urge to travel and find the answer.
However, after becoming gym leader, Ryan is reluctant to even talk about traveling anymore. The former gym leader can understand about leaving so soon after becoming gym leader. But he can see the urge to travel was eating at his grandson the more he meets a trainer. There was also himself when thinking why Ryan was reluctant to leave town. Being an old man, his grandson worries about leaving by himself while he travels the world.
Thinking they spent enough time at the park, Ryan's grandfather guided his grandson out of the park. They passed and greeted many townspeople as they walked through the town. Ryan eventually noticed the path they were taking before finding himself and his grandfather entering the Hemlock Forest.
"Looks like they're going in the forest." Brock said, humming in thought as to why they would go there.
"But why?" Misty asked, looking as far into the forest as her eyes could see.
"Only one way to find out." Ash said, adjusting his hat as Pikachu jumped onto his shoulder before they entered the forest.
"Wait, that's where I caught Grimer." Ryan suddenly said, seeing a part of the forest covered in sludge. As they walked further into the forest, Ryan saw another familiar place. "And that's where I caught Ariados and Eevee evolved into Nauxeon."
"Glad to see you remember." Ryan's grandfather commented as they walked further into the forest until an abandoned mansion came into view. "Surely you also remember this place."
"The Hemlock Shrine!" Ryan exclaimed, pointing at the shrine in the middle of the courtyard. He looked at his grandfather in confusion as the elderly man approached the shrine. "I don't get it Grandpa, why did you bring me here?"
"To battle, of course." Ryan's grandfather turned to face his grandson, who had a look of surprise on his face as well as Ash and his friends. "It's time I see for myself how much you have improved."
"You want to battle me?" Ryan asked, watching his grandfather pull out a pokeball and tossed it to release his Gengar. "Hold on, this is too sudden, aren't you retired?"
"Send out your pokemon, Ryan." Ryan's grandfather ordered, narrowing his eyes when Ryan hesitated to do so. "Now."
Ryan didn't know what to do, he always wanted to battle his grandfather, but not like this. The old man wasn't as young as he used to, hence his retirement in the first place. Just the thought of battling now worried Ryan for his grandfather's health. He hesitantly reached into his pocket, keeping his hand there instead of taking out a pokeball
"I'm not getting any younger, Ryan." Ryan's grandfather said sternly, making Ryan flinch as he pulled out a pokeball.
"Can you at least tell me why you're doing this?" Ryan asked, hesitant to battle his grandfather.
"Didn't you say you wanted to battle me?" Ryan's grandfather shot back, shaking his head in disappointment at seeing Ryan flinch. "Or are you afraid of battling an old man like me?"
"That's not it!" Ryan denied, clenching the pokeball tightly as he looked worriedly at his grandfather. "I just don't want you to overexert yourself."
"STOP MAKING EXCUSES!" Ryan's grandfather shouted, the volume so loud it made the young gym leader and their followers jump and stand at attention. He pointed at Ryan as Gengar floated in anticipation for battle. "You should know it'll take more than that to keep me down!"
"But..." Ryan looked down at the pokeball in his hand in contemplation. He tightly shut his eyes as he threw the pokeball. "Nauxeon!"
The pokeball popped open and released the young gym leader's most trusted partner. Nauxeon looked around in confusion before noticing Gengar and Ryan's grandfather. The toxic point pokemon looked back at Ryan to see he had a conflicted look on his face. Seeing that face on his trainer's face worried Nauxeon and was about to go to him. However, he jumped to avoid a shadow ball courtesy of Gengar who charged another.
"Pay attention!" Ryan's grandfather said sternly, gesturing towards Gengar before the shadow pokemon fired the shadow ball. Nauxeon jumped over the ball of energy just as Gengar appeared over him. "Thunder Punch!"
"Gengar!" Gengar reeled back a clenched fist that sparked with electricity. The shadow pokemon brought down the sparking punch onto Nauxeon's back, sending him crashing into the ground.
"Nauxeon!" Ryan called out in concern, running towards his partner.
"Stay where you are!" Ryan's grandfather shouted, stopping Ryan in his tracks as Gengar floated back to him. "Take one more step and see what happens!"
"Why are you doing this, grandpa?!" Ryan cried out, a look of frustration clear on his face as Nauxeon got to his feet. "Just earlier, we were walking through town like we used to!" He held his hands out to the side to emphasize the abandoned mansion in which they were battling. "Then you bring me here to have a battle, for what purpose?!"
"I already told you what the purpose is." Ryan's grandfather calmly replied, holding a hand forward as Gengar started to move around at great speeds. Nauxeon struggled to keep up with Gengar as the shadow pokemon got faster. "Have you really improved so little since becoming gym leader?"
"I didn't even want to battle you!" Ryan clenched his hands into fists as he watched Nauxeon followed Gengar to the point of getting dizzy. He felt his voice wavering into a whisper as his next words followed. "At least, not like this."
"Unfortunately, the choice isn't yours to make." Ryan's grandfather closed his eyes for a moment before opening them again. "Gengar, shadow ball!"
"You use shadow ball too, Nauxeon!" Ryan called out just as Gengar stopped flying to form the attack.
Nauxeon also formed a ball of energy and fired it at the same time as Gengar. The two balls of energy collided and fought for dominance before exploding. Ryan brought an arm up to shield his eyes while his grandfather just stood as the shockwave of the explosion reached them. The smoke from the explosion soon dispersed to show both pokemon were unharmed.
"I don't get it, why is his grandfather doing this?" Misty asked, a look of worry as she watched the battle in front of her.
"I don't know, Misty." Brock replied, holding his chin in deep thought as he carefully watched Ryan and his grandfather. "One thing for sure, Ryan has no choice but to battle."
Ash remained silent as he watched the battle between grandfather and grandson. He couldn't put his finger on it, but Ash felt like there was more to this battle. From what he saw, Gengar held back when using both its thunder punch and shadow ball attacks. Considering that Gengar was stronger and had more experience, Nauxeon should have taken more damage than he did.
"Is that all, Ryan?" Ryan's grandfather shook his head in disappointment, tucking his hands into his sleeves. This action was to hide his hands tightly clenched into fists as he felt discomfort in his chest. 'Should have taken my meds before doing this.'
"We're just getting started." Ryan was still hesitant to battle, but if his grandfather was going all out, then so will he. He looked at Nauxeon who nodded back to him before facing his grandfather. "Since I don't have a choice, I'll do my best to beat you!"
"That's what I wanted to hear." Ryan's grandfather nodded in approval as Gengar once again started to fly around. Once the discomfort left his chest, he removed his hands from his sleeves and stood straight. "Show me what you've got, Ryan!"
"Let's do it, Nauxeon!" Ryana called out, getting a nod from Nauxeon before pointing forward. "Use poison sting!"
"Night shade!" Ryan's grandfather countered as Nauxeon fired needles from his back. Gengar released beams of black energy from its eyes, deflecting the needles. "Now for confuse ray!"
"Close your eyes and use double team, Nauxeon!" Ryan quickly called out as Gengar's eyes glowed blue. Nauxeon closed his eyes as there was a bright flash from Gengar before dividing himself.
"Not bad." Ryan's grandfather muttered as Gengar looked around as it was surrounded by copies of the poison point pokemon.
"Shadow ball, let's go!" Ryan ordered as Nauxeon and his copies formed balls of black energy.
"Don't let them have an easy target!" Ryan's grandfather called out before Gengar started to fly around to avoid the barrage of shadow balls.
Gengar continued to dodge the balls of black energy as best it could, being slightly grazed on occasion. Ryan had a bead of sweat trailing down his face as he watched how the shadow pokemon maneuvered in the air. As expected of his grandfather's partner, Gengar didn't show an ounce of worry as it dodged. In fact, it almost felt like Gengar was just waiting for something as it dodged.
Ryan gasped as he realized too late when Gengar suddenly dove down and tackled Nauxeon. The poison point pokemon yelped from the attack as his copies vanished. Gengar then grabbed Nauxeon by the tail before throwing him into the air.
"Shadow ball!" Gengar formed a ball of black energy between its hands before throwing it at Nauxeon, resulting in an explosion upon impact.
"Nauxeon!" Ryan called out in worry as Nauxeon fell to the ground, covered in scratches. The poison point pokemon struggled to get to his feet as he glared at Gengar. "Are you okay, Nauxeon?"
"Ryan's being overwhelmed." Brock stated, a frown on his face as he observed the obvious difference in experience.
"But how did Gengar find the real Nauxeon?" Ash asked, a look of confusion on his face as he didn't know which Nauxeon was the real one.
"I don't know, they all looked the same to me." Misty shook her head as she also didn't know which Nauxeon was the real one.
"The answer is simple." Ryan's grandfather said, getting the attention of everyone present as Nauxeon got to his feet. "Gengar simply observed the copies and struck what it thought was the real Nauxeon."
"So Gengar just guessed?" Ryan muttered, a look of disbelief on his face as he never thought such a thing would work.
"Did you forget, Ryan?" Ryan's grandfather questioned rhetorically, Gengar floating circles around Nauxeon. "I have many years worth of experience in battling compared to you." He adjusted the folds of his green kimono as his eyes softened in nostalgia. "I learned that method of countering double team from a trainer I met on my own journey." He then looked at Ryan with a stern look on his face. "An experience you'll never gain with your current mindset."
"Wha-" Ryan took a step back at his grandfather's words, completely lost as to what he was trying to say. "What does my mindset have to do with this battle?"
"Everything." The elderly man crossed his arms as Gengar returned to float in front of him. "And until you realize it yourself, you have no chance of beating me, let alone be a great gym leader."
Now it's time for Review Corner, although it looks like we only have one today.
DragonBladeB5: Although really late, I want to thank you for remembering my birthday.