Chapter 7: Sky High Hailing Gym Battle
Hey guys, sorry for the delay I just felt like I needed a little bit of a break since I've writing so much these days.
Since they'd tested out Castform's abilities, Ash and May felt ready to go to the gym. May had let all her Pokemon out so that they could watch. Eevee and Minun would want to see Plusle and Pikachu in action and be able to cheer them on no doubt. Torchic
"Do you know which Pokemon you're gonna use there, Sir Ash?" May asked.
"Well Castform could be useful in its Ice form but maybe I should take it slowly and give it some time," Ash said. "I do have Pikachu and Plusle as well as Swellow, Corphish, and Grovyle."
"But isn't Grovyle weak against Flying types?" May asked.
"Yeah, but that doesn't stop me from letting him try," Ash said.
Recalling how he had used Grovyle when it was still a Treecko against Flannery's Fire types May supposed he was right. Type didn't appear to completely win the battle, even if it did help.
"We'll see though."
They arrived at the Gym and walked inside. Sitting in the back on a throne like chair was a woman in blue with a hat bearing a set of wings on the sides.
"Hello, I'm Winona," the woman said. "Leader of the Fortree City gym. Are you two here to challenge me?"
"Yes. Well, I am," Ash told her.
"I'm just here to watch," May said.
"I'm Ash from Pallet Town," Ash said before gesturing to May. "And this is my girlfriend May."
"Hello," May said giving a curtsy with her little skirt.
"I see, looking to enter the Hoenn league huh?" Winona asked.
"Yeah, and I need to really step on it," Ash said.
Indeed," Winona agreed. "Well follow me."
She led them to an elevator nearby that took them to the top of the gym where a pair of towers stood on the roof.
"We'll both be at one platform. Since I use flying types I like to take things a little higher," Winona explained. "May, you can watch from down below."
She gestured to a set of bleachers nearby on the ground. Ash and Winona each got on a tower facing each other with May watching down below with all her Pokemon and Castform.
The referee raised a set of flags. "The Pokemon Gym battle between the Fortree Gym Leader Winona and Ash of Pallet Town will now begin. Each side will use three Pokemon, the battle will continue until one side of either trainers Pokemon are unable to continue. Trainers release your Pokemon!"
Ash drew his first pokeball. "Plusle, I choose you!"
The ball opened and let his Pokemon down on the ground several feet below. Plusle announced his presence with an eager call of his name.
"Plusle!"
"Mi!" Minun called at her boyfriend and waving. "Do your best Plusle!"
"I will!" Plusle waved up at her.
"Good luck!" Eevee called at him, trying to be friendly.
Pikachu who was up on the tower with Ash looked down at Eevee. She noticed and smiled. He smiled back and looked away, Ash would need him next if Plusle failed most likely. Castform would be good against flying types in its ice form but for now Ash had decided to let it simply watch. It did so uncertainly as it sat on the on the bench with May and her Pokemon, silently missing the Weather facility.
Winona drew her own Pokeball as well.
"Go! Altaria!" she said as she threw it.
Her Pokeball released a blue Pokemon with fluffy white wings. It hovered in the air and looked down at its tiny opponent. Ash knew that would be a tough opponent. Altaria was part dragon type so that would make Plusle's attack due only regular damage. Castforms ice form would do much better in this situation since Altaria had a double weakness to that sort of attack. But Ash would let Castform battle when it felt ready.
"Begin!" the referee called raising his flags.
"Plusle use Spark!" Ash ordered.
Plusle charged forward and leapt up at blue bird Pokemon.
"Fly higher!" Winona ordered.
With a single flap of its wings Altaria soared up out of range and Plusle plopped back to the ground.
Ash grit his teeth. Plusle lacked any sort of damaging long range attack like Pikachu's Thunderbolt. He did have Thunder Wave but that only paralyzed targets.
In that case I'll have to attack when it gets close. He thought.
"Its okay Plusle! Get ready to attack!" Ash said.
Plusle narrowed his eyes and focused. But Winona smirked as she guessed Ash's strategy.
"Need me to get close huh?" she asked.
Ash looked at her in surprise.
"If you were going to use a range attack you would have done it right off the bat!" she said. "Altaria, Dragon Breath!"
"Taria!" It released a wave of green energy from its mouth that hit Plusle, doing quite a bit of damage and knocking the small cream Pokemon back.
"Plusle!" Minun cried out.
May put a hand on her heart as she saw her first Pokemon's romantic partner being hurt in front of her. Eevee and Castform both looked on in concern as well.
Ash knew this was bad. Still he had to try something he saw Plusle struggling to get up. Another attack would probably be enough to knock out the small Pokemon.
Winona knew it too.
"Aerial Ace!"
Altaria moved at an incredible speed, heading down toward Plusle.
"Plusle! Thunderwave!" he ordered.
"Plusle!" He cried out and released the attack a split second before being hit.
Altaria grunted in discomfort as the paralyzing attack hit it. Electricity flashed on its body, so it would have a difficult time moving from now on. But that had been Plusle's final move as he lay there with swirls in his eyes.
Ash sighed and called his Pokemon back to his Pokeball, looking at it in remorse. "Sorry Plusle. I didn't think we might need attacks for distance."
May petted Minun who was in tears at her boyfriends failure. "Sorry Minun."
Minun looked at Ash, feeling a little angry at him for letting her precious Pokemon get hurt. Of course she knew things like this could happen in Pokemon battles.
"Its not over yet! Pikachu you're up!" Ash said.
"Right!" Pikachu leapt down onto the battlefield.
"Come on Pikachu!" Eevee said.
Minun didn't have the heart to let off any sparks to cheer them on since Plusle had lost so badly. Castform looked at the field uncertainly.
"Pikachu Thunder!" Ash said, knowing they had to make use of Plusles effort.
"Take this!" Pikachu said as it unleashed its most powerful attack on the fluffy Pokemon.
Altaria cried out in pain as the immense electrical attack hit it. It wasn't super effective, but it still did considerable damage.
"Dragon claw!" Winona said.
Altaria let out an eager cry and dove at Pikachu talons first.
"Dodge it!" Ash called. "Then Quick Attack!"
Pikachu moved out of the way and quickly rammed into the Bird Pokemon, who fell to the ground, unable to remain skyward.
"Dragonbreath!" Winona called looking a little worried now.
Altaria turned its head toward Pikachu and opened its mouth, but static electricity became visible as it was immobilized by the paralysis. Plusle's Thunderwave had saved them some damage there.
"Alright! Pikachu finish it off with Thunderbolt!"
"PikaCHU!" Pikachu let off its signature attack.
Altaria shrieked at the force of the electrical bolt and then fell to the ground on its stomach.
"Altaria is unable to battle!" the referee said. "Pikachu is the winner!"
May and Eevee both smiled wildly with the Evolution Pokemon hugging her trainer. "Yay! They did it!" May cried as she lifted Eevee up.
Minun managed a small smile, and Castform watched in amazement with its eyes and mouth wide open.
"Castform." It said to itself.
But there were still too Pokemon to go down for either side.
"Pelliper go!" Winona said as she threw her second Pokeball.
A pelican like Pokemon appeared. Ash's eyes widened. Pelliper were not just flying Pokemon but also Water Types as well. That made them four times weaker against Electric attacks. It would probably take only one or two hits for that Pokemon to go down going up against Pikachu.
"Ha, we got this in the bag Pikachu!" Ash said. "Thunderbolt!"
Pikachu sparked up his cheeks to prepare to deliver another attack.
"Steel Wing into the ground!" Winona told her Pelliper.
"Peli!"
Pelliper flew toward the ground as Pikachu let off a Thunderbolt that narrowly missed. Pikachu fired another that also missed. Pellipers wings glowed and it slammed one into the floor of the stadium as Pikachu landed a blow. Ash grinned as he thought it was over or at least close for Pelliper. But the Pelican Pokemon didn't even wince at the contact of the bolt that should have been extra super effective.
"What?" Ash exclaimed.
Winona smirked at him. "Sorry Ash, but if you think I haven't trained to counter Pellipers greatest weakness you are sadly mistaken. Using Steel Wing to the ground and staying there allows Pelliper to act as a lightning rod and avoid damage."
Ash grit his teeth once again.
"Hydro Pump!" Winona said.
From its sideways position with its wing plunged into the ground, Pelliper let out a large blast of water at Pikachu, knocking him back and doing good damage. Ash began feeling in a pinch. Maybe he should call Pikachu back and switch to another Pokemon.
"Come on Ash!" May called out. "You can still win this!"
"Eevee! Eevee!" Eevee called as well in a similar tone to Pikachu as if to say the same thing.
"Mi!" Minun let off a few sparks to cheer them off.
"Castform! Castform!" the Weather Pokemon called as well while hovering in the air near the bleachers, seeming to be getting into the spirit of the battle.
Ash looked over at her and smiled knew he had to do something fast. He had to get Pelliper out of that position then land an electric attack.
"Quick Attack Pikachu! Get Pelliper of there!" Ash said.
Pikachu nodded in affirmation then launched at the Pelican Pokemon. Pelliper tried to unleash more Hydro Pumps but Pikachu dodged them and rammed into it. The force of the attack caused Pelliper to be pushed out of its position and Ash saw his chance.
"Thunderbolt quick!" he ordered.
"Hydro Pump!" Winona said at the same time, hoping to cancel the attack out before it could hit.
The blast of water missed, having a slightly lower accuracy rate then Pikachu's Thunderbolt and the force of being pushed back didn't help. Pikachu's attack however hit and caused Pelliper to cry out. It then fell to the ground, downed in a single attack.
"Pelliper is unable to battle," the referee said raised a flag in Ash's direction. "Pikachu is the winner!"
"Yeah!" Ash said.
"Yes!" Pikachu raised his paws.
May, Eevee, Minun and Castform all smiled in triumph. Pikachu had really managed to turn things around. Castform's smile vanished quickly and turned to a thoughtful frown. Should it be the next Pokemon to go? Ash had wanted it to watch and now it felt like it might actually enjoy this.
Winona pulled out her final pokeball. "Swellow, you are my last hope!"
A Swellow similar to Ash's own emerged but it had a different coloration from his. A Shiny Swellow! Instead of the dark blue color it had more light greenish teal color on its wings and a lighter red as well.
Ash narrowed his eyes in determination. Just this one and he'd have his sixth badge and be that much closer to entry in the Hoenn league. But Pikachu had taken a lot of damage.
"Pikachu you wanna take a break? I can let out my own Swellow or Corphish or Grovyle to take over!"
Pikachu nodded, he was getting pretty tired and breathing hard. Castform looked up at Ash who was thinking. Pikachu ran over to the bleachers to where Eevee was. She smiled at him as he approached and kissed him on the edge of the cheek, avoiding his full cheek as she knew that would shock her.
"You were amazing Pikachu," she said.
"Thanks," he said with a blush.
Castform made up its mind and floated off to try and get into the battle.
Ash had already drawn a Pokeball to be his final battler. "Alright Grovyle I choose-
"Castform! Cast!" Castform called.
"Castform?" Ash asked surprised.
Castform pointed its head toward the battle field and uttered its name again. "Castform! Castform!"
"You wanna battle?" Ash asked.
It nodded. Ash smiled.
"Alright, I wasn't expecting you to be ready so soon but I'm glad!" Ash said. "Alright, Castform I choose you!"
Castform hovered up to the same height as Winona's Swellow.
"Since both trainers are using a Pokemon that can fly or levitate, this round will take place at the maximum height of the towers!" the referee said.
Winona instructed Ash to press the controls on the railing in front of him. He pressed the button reading up and both tower platforms ascended higher to the sky. Castform and Swellow followed, rising to the same height as their trainers. May,
"Begin!" the referee said.
"Castform Hail!" Ash ordered to start.
Castform shot a beam of white light into the sky which grew dark with clouds in the immediate area around the Gym. Hail began to fall and Castform changed into its icy form. May had to put up her hands to ward off the balls of ice coming down.
"I wish I had an umbrella," the princess commented and all the nearby Pokemon nodded.
"Very nice," Winona complimented. "But don't think being able to change type to match your opponent is enough!"
"I know," Ash said.
His Castform was very new to battling. But hopefully it could at least weaken Swellow enough for Pikachu to have an easier time finishing the job like Plusle had done to Alataria.
"Aerial Ace!" Winona commanded her to Pokemon.
The shiny Swellow moved at an incredible speed, at least as fast as Pikachu's Quick Attack, maybe faster. It landed a hit on Castform who winced. Its ice shell provided some protection against physical attacks but didn't avoid all the damage. The shell cracked a bit from the force of the attack.
"Weather Ball!" Ash said.
"Castform!"
It shot a ball of energy into the sky which came down in the form of ice that hit Winona's Swellow who grunted as it took massive damage. One or two more of those and it would probably be over. Add to that the hail was doing some small damage as well. It buffeted against not only Swellow but also Ash, May and the others as well.
Winona knew she had to end this quickly before she got hit with another Icy Weather Ball.
"Hyper Beam!" she said.
"What?" Ash exclaimed, not expecting such a powerful move to be used by a Bird Pokemon.
The Shiny Swellow charged energy from its mouth and released in the form an orange beam at Castform. The little Pokemon cried out and dodged without Ash giving a command before retreating behind the tower.
"Castform? Its okay we can still win!" Ash said trying to be encouraging.
Swellow was breathing hard after using a powerful move like Hyper Beam. But that wouldn't last long. Castform shivered from its cover and slowly came back out.
"First time in battle?" Winona asked.
"Yeah," Ash said.
"Well, you'll have to get Castform used to battling if you want to use it in the Hoenn League," Winona said.
Swellow had recovered and looked ready to fight again while Castform hovered nervously.
"Hyper Beam again!" Winona said.
Swellow charged another beam and Ash watched.
"Dodge it!" He ordered.
Castform moved to dodge the blast as it was released but-
"Redirect it after Castform!" Winona said.
Swellow moved its mouth so that the rest of the beam caught Castform. Its icy shell broke and it returned to its normal form.
"Castform is unable to battle! Swellow is the winner!"
Ash called Castform back to its pokeball. "You did a good job Castform, especially since this was your first time in a gym battle after I just got you. We'll keep practicing."
Pikachu, knowing it was the last Pokemon standing, turned to Eevee.
"It's all up to me," he said.
"Good luck Pikachu!" Eevee said as she kissed him.
"Go get em Pikachu!" Minun said.
May smiled and nodded as Pikachu ran back to the battlefield. Ash and Winona lowered the tops of their tower platforms so that they were closer to the ground. Hail continued to fall down on everyone causing minor pain to their heads.
"Final Round! Begin!" the referee called.
Ash raised a fist. "Alright Pikachu we got to give this everything we got! Thunderbolt!"
Pikachu charged another of its signature attacks.
"Dodge and use Aerial Ace!" Winona said.
Swellow moved out of the way and flew at high speed again at Pikachu, throwing the electric type off its feet. Pikachu struggled to get back up.
"Try another one!" Ash said.
Pikachu let off another Thunderbolt but Winona used the same method.
"Dodge again!"
Swellow did so.
That Swellow has sure been trained well to be able to dodge Pikachu's electric attacks, Ash thought. But-
"Aerial Ace once again!" Winona said.
"I thought so!" Ash said. "Pikachu use Quick Attack to dodge and leap on Swellow!"
He finished speaking in the nick of time as Winona's Swellow flew at blinding speed. Pikachu ran, equaling the speed before jumping and landing on the opposing Pokemon who jerked around in midair trying to get him off.
"Now Thunder!" Ash commanded.
"PikaCHUUU!"
A point black Thunder Attack filled the battleground as Swellow let out a cry of pain. The hail stopped and the clouds vanished to make room for the sunlight. Swellow fell and hit the ground, Pikachu slipped off as well, having not the strength to land gracefully. He grunted at the impact.
"Pikachu!" Ash and Eevee both yelled in concern from their own areas.
Slowly Pikachu got up and smiled before lifting two small fingers in a victory pose. Swellow, meanwhile, lay still on the ground.
"Swellow is unable to battle! Pikachu is the winner! The victory goes to Ash of Pallet Town!" the referee said, ending the match.
"Yeah!" May exclaimed.
Winona called her Swellow back and smiled at the pokeball. "You did your best, Swellow. I'm proud of you."
…
She led Ash, May, and all their Pokemon back out to the front of the Gym. Ash let Plusle and Castform back out and thanked them both for working so hard in the battle.
"Well Ash, that was a great battle. You more then earned the Feather Badge!"
She reached into her pocket and drew out a silver badge that greatly resembled a Feather. Ash took it with a smile.
"Alright! I got a Feather a badge!" he said as he held it high above his head.
"Great job Ash," May said before hugging him and whispering in his ear. Sir Ash.
Ash smiled at her and hugged her back. Pikachu and Eevee stood by each other's side while Minun was supporting Plusle and Castform weakly hovered.
"You all did great!" Ash said. "I know we might have to work on some things but I'm proud of all of you."
"Good luck, I'll be rooting for you in the Hoenn League when it starts!" Winona said.
"Thanks Winona!" Ash said. "Goodbye."
With another victory secured, Ash and May headed to the Pokemon Center so their Pokemon (or at least Ash's) could rest.
Alright, another chapter done even if it is a few days late. Hope you guys enjoyed this.