When Sabrina finally found Ash, she expected something to go wrong. However, her face (still) fell when she saw Ash's Pokemon return wearing clothes as if Halloween barfed on all of them.
She looked to his right and saw a stupid-looking Drowzee wearing a shining belt. "Who is this?"
Sabrina almost regretted it as she saw the new walking headache pose dramatically with his belt. 'I am The El Almohada! Champion of the People! Seeker of Justice! The Lucha Warrior! The Estómago that does not quit! The—'
So much for hoping the psychic type would be mundane or at least silent. "I thought you'd be getting your badge by today?"
Ash's eyes widened after hearing that. "I forgot about that!"
(This. Boy.) Sabrina thought in her mind. "I take it you couldn't find a ground type? I heard people saying Diglet Cave collapsed in on itself."
"That wasn't my fault. A mustached, bowl-hat-wearing Alolan Dugtrio did it."
Sabrina wished the child was insane and that she could ignore the sincerity and honesty in his unbelievable words. Alas, she wasn't the same person before meeting Ash Ketchum. "I know this Gym Leader. You need all the training you can get." Especially since she recalled him wanting to use one of his new 'gifts' against the teen.
"Right, don't worry, Sabrina! I'll defeat this Lt. Slap and get my 4th badge!"
"I'm sure you," She trailed off as her mind replayed what the child had just said. "What did you call him?"
"Ah? Sorry, I keep forgetting his name. I know it starts with an "S", but the last time I looked it up, I still forgot it. I wanna say, Lt. Surf?"
Sabrina was about to scold Ash until a small part of her realized something: why does she have to be the only one who suffers Ash's brand of chaos? Lt. Surge did seem to mock her for not being on top of things in Team Rocket for once.
Ash and Team Luckless watched Sabrina slowly raise the corners of her mouth. For some reason, her smile was scarier than her resting scowl.
"His name is Lt. Slurp. And if you hear anything else, those are his nicknames."
"Oh? Okay. Well, let's all heal up and head to Lt. Slurp's Gym!"
(Ahh, perhaps today won't be so bad after all.) Sabrina, for the first time in a while, smiled.
It's such a shame that her smile inspired fear in whoever chose to look in her general direction at that moment.
It didn't take long till Ash and Team Luckless entered the Vermillion Gym. However, Sabrina wasn't expecting Lt. Surge to be talking to someone else in the middle of his battlefield.
"What?!" Ash yelled out in surprise before a smile appeared on his face. The teen waved and shouted. "Hey! Spark!"
The Leader of Team Instinct turned to the voice. When he did, he waved back to the teen. "Yo, Ash! Good to see ya! I dig the costumes your Pokemon are wearing!"
"What are you doing here?" Ash asked as he and his Pokemon moved closer.
"I wanted to talk to my uncle for a bit. I was passing by and thought I'd say hello."
"Oh, you're meeting your uncle? Who is he?" Sabrina's resting glare pointed towards her student after hearing him ask that.
"This big Tedidursa, Lt. Surge." Spark pointed a thumb at the giant of a man.
"Nice to meet you, Mr. Spark's Uncle!" Ash greeted the giant of a man. "Do you know where the Vermillion Gym Leader, Lt. Slurp, is?"
Sabrina felt a rare sense of pride in her student when she saw Lt. Surge's face fall.
"What!?" It only became better for her when Spark turned to his uncle. "You're not the Vermillion Gym Leader anymore!? Who's Lt. Slurp!?"
Lt. Surge turned to Sabrina, who did her best to keep her neutral face. Eventually, he did explain the confusion to both younger trainers.
"So," He sighed and folded his arms. This time, he looked down on the raven-haired teen. "You're here to challenge my Gym, arent ya?"
Ash nodded once after hearing the question.
"How many badges do you have?" The gym leader asked.
"I've got 3 for now!"
After hearing Ash's cry, Spark smiled. "3 badges already? That's great! You're six badges away from challenging me!"
The psychic and electrical gym leaders did not expect to hear those words.
"You haven't battled Spark?" Lt. Surge wasn't expecting that as he knew the three gyms in Viridian City were the ones that took on most newcomers to the league.
Ash pumped up his fist. "I wanna fight Spark at his best! I heard he's around Elite 4 level!"
"Ambitious." The Electric Gym Leader smirked. "Alright then, show me what you got. This'll be a 3 on 3 singles match. Now go take your side."
Soon, Ash and Lt. Soup took their positions. Sabrina and Spark resided in the bleachers on the side.
Ash motioned over to his Pokemon. "Come on, El Almohada!"
"Si!" The psychic type raced into the ring, only to start gasping for air a few steps before his spot.
Lt. Surprise threw out his Poke Ball. "Magneton!"
The three-as-one Pokemon levitated above the gasping luchador.
'Hello, Dave.' Three monotone voices said at the same time.
'It is not Dave. I am,' The luchador gasped. 'I am the El Almohada! And I will win this match!' He started to pose before gasping for air again.
Sabrina sighed before placing a hand on her head. "How is it that he found a Psychic-Type like that!?"
'That's nice, Dave. But we're afraid we can't let you do that.' The Magneton floated high into the air.
"Begin the match!" The Referee, named Visquez, waved her hand downward.
'Lock-On.' 'Zap Cannon.' The top head started to have its eye glow red while the two lower parts created an orb of electricity that shot itself towards the psychic type.
El Almohada yelled before attempting to run away from the hit, only for the attack to chase after and close in on him.
Ash linked fast, (Almohada, use Light Screen!)
While surprised, the bumbling psychic was able to turn and erect a psychic barrier. Sure, it wasn't like any of the elaborate barriers the hypnosis Pokemon created when he was asleep, but it did take the brunt of the electrical attack.
'I-I did it! I finally performed a psychic move!' El Almohada raised both his hands up. '... How'd I do that?' He asked while the Magneton started to shoot two orbs of Zap Cannon down on the confused psychic.
El Almohada held his barrier as much as he could, but the combined explosion of both attacks knocked him back, causing him to bounce a few ways back.
Ash knew that he had to do something to change the pace of this battle. "Almohada, use Rest!"
The wrestling psychic did so, making his body go slack while still standing up. When he did, Magneton unleashed Thunder down on the still target. As the dust settled, the dual type did not expect a Light Screen disc above the psychic type. More so with everyone else as they saw the glowing eyes of the standing, yet snoring, Pokemon.
They watched as El Almohada brought his hands to point dramatically at the ceiling.
'Behold!' He started to sway his hands before making multiple poses, one looking suspiciously like a da— 'I am The El Almohada!'
As the sleeping psychic shouted this, everyone could hear what sounded like the distant sounds of (Spanish) guitar riffs.
The masked psychic pointed to Magneton. 'And this shall be the day that I defeat you, Metal Foe!'
'I can't let you do that, Dave.' The three magneton heads narrowed their eyes at the sleeping psychic.
With speed faster than before, the sleeping El Almohada ran towards the levitating opponent. The top body of Magneton narrowed his eyes as he primed more Lock-On attacks before his two lower bodies fired another Zap Cannon.
Yet El Almohada smirked before he stepped on top of a horizontal Reflect Barrier that catapulted him towards the attack. Everyone watched as El Almohada created a construct of Light Screen in the shape of an orb before he threw it at the Zap Cannon. The electrical orb made contact and exploded. When it did, the explosion smoke absorbed El Almohada, making both trainers and Magneton lose track of the psychic. However, before Lt. Surge could command his Pokemon to back off, something shot out of the smoke as if it never slowed down in the first place.
El Almohada latched itself onto Magneton, surprising the dual type.
"Get him off you! Use Thunder!" Lt. Surge shouted.
However, El Almohada shifted his entire weight back, causing the dual type to flip over. As they flipped mid-air, another Reflect Barrier appeared above the two, which El Almohada kicked off and sent them both spinning towards the ground!
'Behold! Lanzamiento de Giro Mundial!' The psychic shouted while he and Magneton spun and crashed into the ground, with El Almohada landing on top of him as they crashed.
El Almohada raised his hands as he jumped off. 'I am the El Almohada! Victor of the century!'
Ash noticed that Magneton started to get up. (Almohada! He's still up!)
'Imposible!' The sleeping Pokemon turned around. 'The bells declared me the winner!'
'I am afraid bells aren't the ones getting struck, Dave.' Magneton unleashed a Thunder attack that sent the psychic type flying.
Ash realized that El Almohada's sleeping mode had one drawback: what he was dreaming didn't line up with reality. But then, the young trainer had an idea. (El Almohada! Uh, didn't you know? You have to defeat him two more times!)
'Of course! How could I olvidar!?' The psychic shook his head as he got back up.
"Magneton, keep your distance away from that psychic luchador!" Lt. Surge had to pause as the sentence left his mouth. He shook his head. "Knock him out with another Lock-On Zap Cannon before he wakes up and heals himself again!"
The Magneton flew higher than they did before. Now that they knew what their opponent was capable of, they wouldn't make the same mistake. Ash knew this, but he had no idea how to get up there since El Almohada didn't have any ranged attacks!
The electric Pokemon did his Zap Cannon combination once more. But the sleeping Pokemon only pointed upward dramatically.
'Aha! You shoot a comet at me!? You do not realize that I have the power to control stars!' Ash forgot sometimes dreams did not make a lick of sense to people who were awake. However, if it was anything like before, El Almohada knew what he was doing.
Ash trusted his dreaming Pokemon as he erected another Light Screen barrier. What surprised everyone was that Almohada started to spin the Light Screen in the same rotation as the Zap Cannon.
No one understood why El Almohada did that. As they saw the Zap Cannon connect, many prepared themselves for the attack to explode on contact.
So imagine the surprise of all Gym Leaders and the challenger when the attack didn't explode. The attack stood still as could be as it spun along with the Light Screen.
"What am I watching right now?" Lt. Surge stared in disbelief as El Almohada started to extend and cover the Light Screen around the Zap Cannon. Then, he formed a Reflect barrier over the Light Screen before he jumped on top of it.
Spark and Ash both dropped their jaws when they saw El Almohada steady his balance on the Reflect barrier. He moved his hands, and he started to rise upward!?
Sabrina was also at a loss for words until she sensed the energy of the Light Screen. She couldn't believe it. She has seen and even used Psychic energies to capture and send non-dark-type attacks back at their opponents. But to this extent? The Drowzee was abusing the fact that Lock-On would always make the next attack track its target. By capturing it but not making it explode, Zap Cannon is still chasing after El Almohada. Yet, he's riding the lift of the attack meant to hurt him.
He turned his opponent's attack into a personal hoverboard!
Ash stared in shock as he would never even think of something like that. Maybe this meant he could come up with unpredictable strategies in his dreams?
"Man, the wisdom of old Bellosoms is something!" He'd have to visit that old Bellosom again if he could use dreams like that!
Sabrina found her eyes narrowing towards her student. "What did he just say?"
She got distracted when El Almohada acclimated to his makeshift ride and used the attack to speed towards Magneton again.
"Holy crap! Lock-On into Thunder! There's no way he can use a barrier to stop you this time!" Lt. Surge cried out.
The Magneton did as he was told, and the attack sailed the sky towards the incoming psychic. However, no one expected El Almohada to lean backward and make the attack hit the Zap Cannon after opening up part of the Light Screen container. The Zap Cannon ended up absorbing the attack, enlarging itself before El Almohada closed his spinning Light Screen and continued flying towards the Magneton.
Lt. Surge figured out quickly that Ash's Pokemon was going to absorb all attacks sent his way, but he had his own idea to counter the utter impossibility he was now fighting. "Charge two Zap Cannons, Magneton! Launch when I say so!"
Lt. Surge's plan was simple. If the psychic could absorb and contain attacks, he doubted he could do the same to an explosion from attacks. When the enemy was close enough, he'll force the two attacks to clash just before it could be absorbed, causing a massive explosion that the psychic would have no way of containing. And maybe even knock the weakened Pokemon out cold even from his sleeping state.
All he had to do was wait till he got...
closer...
closer...
Almost there...
Lt. Surge started to move. "N—"
The Gym Leader stopped mid-sentence when the glowing eyes of the psychic type stopped. El Almohada opened his eyes and had one second of being confused before he screamed and fell from the air. With his hold over the first Zap Cannon and Thunder gone, the two attacks collided into each other and exploded, pushing El Almohada down and reaching Magneton while he was charging two attacks.
As one could imagine, Lt. Surge's plan to explode his attacks before Elmohada absorbed them turned against him on accident as the first explosion triggered an even bigger explosion right in front of Magenton's face instead of El Almohada.
El Almohada landed with a bounce and a noticeable 'Ooof!' but was still alright.
The same could not be said of Magneton as he fell out of the explosion clouds and into the ground with all three eyes swirling.
'Goodbye, Dave.' The Magneton muttered before they went slack.
"The First round goes to Ash Ketchum!" The referee told those present.
"Great job, El Almohada!" Ash threw his fist up.
'Great job? Why? What did I—Dios Mio! What happened to this three-eyed metal thing!? And why am I aching all over!?' The masked psychic looked on with shock.
"Oh. I forgot to tell him about his sleeping powers." Ash noted to himself as he took out a Poke Ball. "For now, return! Take as much rest as you can!"
Ash turned behind him and locked eyes with Astro. "You ready to go in?"
The Riolu nodded before dashing into the battlefield with a smile, fixing his new hat in cape for his first battle.
Lt. Surge shook his head after realizing what had just happened in that match. After returning Magneton, he spotted the Riolu entering the field. "He looks pretty tough. In that case! Raichu!"
The Evolved form of Pikachu entered the battlefield. It locked eyes with Astro before it pointed at him.
'Weel aren't ye the size of a wee kneewburn? Urr ye duin fur th' rammy o` yer lee?!'
...
'What?' Astro asked while wondering if he broke his omni translator.
"Round 2! Raichu Versus Riolu!" Visquez called out before she raised her hand, ready to throw it down. "Begin!"
"Thunderpunch!" Lt. Surge called out, wanting to take momentum in the second round. Raichu's tail quickly recoiled between itself and the ground before it sprang forward, making the evolved Pokemon move in with speed Astro wasn't expecting.
The attack hit the fighting type in the cheek and sent Astro flipping on the battlefield like a skipping rock. Yet, Astro regained his senses and landed with a slide.
'Is that a' ye kin dae? This tussle wull be ower quicker than mah maw kin doon a heavy!' The Raichu scoffed as he walked after the fighting type.
Astro shook his head and narrowed his eyes at the Raichu. 'I have no idea what you're saying, but AAAAAHHH!?' He dashed in with a Quick Attack. Astro threw his palm forward only for Raichu's tail to swat the speed-boosted palm away. Astro attempted attacking again, but unfortunately, every kick and punch met with the same tail block. But mid assault, Astro had an idea. He pressured more into his Quick Attack to circle and increase the speed of his strikes, forcing Raichu to use his tail to block in a 360-degree radius.
Astro slid in front of Raichu, punched forward—then stopped his fist before the tail could block it. It was a feint as his leg ended up kicking the chin of the Raichu. The Riolu unleashed followed with a Force Palm into the stomach of the evolved Pokemon.
However, even if the attack made contact, the electric Pokemon only slid the length of a school ruler.
The Raichu looked back down with a hungry smile before he spat on the ground. 'Looks lik' ye git rammy in ye! a'm aff tae gilravage this! I'm aboot tae toss awa' th' kidde gloves, sae ye best batter me oot afore ah mak' ye merrit tae mama earth!'
'... No, you?' Astro didn't know if he was being insulted or complimented.
What he did know was how to fight, and he knew one was coming. Raichu put his hands up, almost as if taking a boxer's stance. Astro mirrored the movements. Raichu then threw two Thunder Punches that Astro avoided before attempting to counterattack. However, Raichu's tail blocked the jabs and forced the emanation Pokemon to back off.
"Whoo," Spark exhaled as he leaned forward. "I keep forgetting how good Uncle Lt. Surge's Raichu is in close combat."
Sabrina took note of that. She recalled seeing the Raichu alongside Lt. Surge for the longest time. But now that she thought of it, something always felt amiss with what was Lt. Surge's starter. "Why is his Riachu different from his other Pokemon?"
"He evolved Raichu early, so he didn't get a lot of access to good moves until Move Tutors and TMs became a thing. So Raichu's training went into pure power. Even as a kid, I'd cheer Raichu on as he overpowered Machamps!"
Sabrina raised her brow. Lt. Surge's Raichu must have embodied the power part of his type.
"You got speed, kid. I'll give your Pokemon that." Lt. Surge smiled. "But you're going to need way more than that!" He clenched his fist as he punched the air. "Raichu, use Strength!"
Every cell in both Astro and Ash's body screamed at both of them to get out of the way the instant Lt. Surge shouted that attack. Raichu lifted his hand... before punching the ground with enough force to crack the field and shake the entire area. Astro struggled with his balance as the elevation of the floor was no longer even.
Yet, the Emanation Pokemon's body moved before Astro's mind could. He dashed away with a Quick Attack as Raichu smashed the already broken ground with a Thunder Punch. But because of the uneven ground, Astro tripped and fell on his face.
'Ash?' Astro got back up. 'I really can't beat this guy!'
The trainer started to think. (Stop engaging him in close combat then! Keep firing Vacuum Waves!)
The blue Pokemon followed the order and fired pressurized air blast after pressurized air blast. Raichu blocked the first few with his tail, then started dodging others. So Astro unleashed a rapid-fire of Vacuum Waves at the electric type.
"Use Strength on the ground!" Lt. Surge threw his hand out as he saw what Astro was about to do.
The Raichu dug his tail and hands into the cracks and lifted a chunk of the earth to take in and block the air blasts coming his way.
'Aww, come on!' Astro whined as he realized that his Vacuum Waves couldn't get through rock that thick. Then, with his Aura, he sensed movement from behind the rock. The Emanation Pokemon's eyes widened as he dashed away from said rock shoved at him at the speed of a racing car.
While things were looking bad, Ash suddenly had an idea. (Astro! Listen carefully! Do the same thing you did before but before he lifts the rock, use Foresight!)
Astro unleashed another rapid-fire Vacuum Wave at Raichu, making the evolved Pokemon tear off a chunk of ground. But not before Riolu used a quick Foresight before the rock went up.
Ash knew what was about to happen. He gave one order to his Riolu.
Raichu shoved the boulder with the same force as he did before. However, instead of trying to duck away from the side, Astro climbed on then jumped off the flying rock with his hands compressing ligh...
"Focus Blast!" Ash shouted the name of the move as Riolu threw the attack...
...which kept flying past the Raichu and was nowhere near hitting him.
'Ye ca' that aiming? Mah blind grandpaps wid be mair likely tae skelp a rat by throwing a rock in th' opposite direction!' Raichu and by proxy, Lt. Surge, laughed as they saw the attack flying out of the battlefield.
What they did not see was the Focus Blast curving in the air and doing its best impression of a boomerang heading right for Raichu. So, Focus Blast made contact with Raichu's back without the evolved Pokemon putting any defense up in time.
"Raichu!" Lt. Surge cried out before looking over to Ash. "How'd you do that? Focus Blast is infamous for missing more times than it should!"
The raven-haired teen smiled. "I learned it from your Magneton. Foresight also works like Lock-On."
Lt. Surge heard and then realized what his challenger meant. Astro copied the combination of moves Magneton just used.
"So, using my own moves against me? But it's going to take more than that to beat Raichu."
Raichu stepped out of the clouds. 'We're juist getting stairted, bairn. Noo pat yer dukes up 'n' let's fin' oot whilk yin o' us falls foremaist!'
'You take that back!' Astro pointed heatedly at his opponent.
(Astro, I don't think he was insulting you.) Ash linked.
(It's so hard to tell, Ash!) The Riolu's linked voice sounded like he was about to cry.
"Well, if we're being fair. You pretty much inspired me to take a move too." Lt. Surge pointed forward. "Raichu!" He gave a small smile and both Sabrina and Spark felt the need to get up and leave their seats.
Lt. Surge smiled as he whispered this next move. "Giga Impact."
Raichu reclined his fist as it started to glow in a blinding white light.
(Astro, get out of there!) Ash didn't know how Raichu was going to close the distance between them, but he didn't want his fighting type to get hit by a powerful attack made from a powerhouse of a Pokemon.
The young trainer got his answer when all Raichu did was punch the ground in front of him— "HoooOOOLLLLYY!?"
See, Raichu's punch created a powerful shockwave that erupted from the ground like a geyser and moved forward towards Astro's direction had he not used Quick Attack to speed out of there. It seemed like those multiple Vacuum Waves were not a good idea.
Outside the Gym, people looked to the side to see one of the walls explode open.
"Huh?" A girl with maroon-colored hair and green eyes looked over to the building in question. "Was that an explosion?"
A young skinny boy with tan skin, black hair, and blue eyes that wore the same school uniform as the girl looked in the direction of the sound. "Oh. It's just the Vermillion Gym. The Gymleader is probably battling with his Raichu again."
"That's one destructive Raichu. This is what? The fourth time this month he's broken a wall in his gym? That's gotta cost money. Why do people battle so much?"
"Well, it is League season." The boy dismissed. "Come on, let's get back to the lab."
Back in the Gym, Lt. Surge rubbed his head. "Really? I hit the one wall that wasn't reinforced? Maybe I should look into buying an audience force field at this rate..."
Ash looked around after the dust settled. Try as he might, he couldn't spot Astro anywhere. When he called out his starter's name, he heard a groan over to his right. It looked like Astro couldn't fully escape Raichu's Giga Impact because he was thrown away by the shockwave of the attack and had hit one of the protruding rocks.
Astro grunted as he got back up.
(Can you keep fighting, Astro?) Ash asked his first Pokemon while reaching for his Poke Ball.
(Ash. I really. REALLY. Want to kick this guy's butt.) The Riolu fell into a boxing stance while his eyes narrowed towards the Raichu. (So I'm not quitting.)
The raven-haired teen smiled as he heard the fighting spirit of his Pokemon, and it ignited his own. (Alright, Foresight into Focus Blast again!)
Riolu's eyes flashed before he began charging Focus Blast in his palms. He pitched the energy sphere, and while it looked like it was curving away, the attack spun in the opposite way to correct itself and landed face-first into the Raichu.
However, even with another direct hit from Astro's strongest move, Raichu stood strong.
"There we gang! Noo a'm duin fur th' neist round!' He swung his arms as if he was exercising.
Then, the Raichu used his tail to launch himself at the Riolu. Astro avoided the Thunder Punch, and then the two started to fight in close range once more.
Sabrina raised her brow when a thought occurred to her. "That Raichu is basically his starter, correct?"
Spark looked over to the psychic gym leader. "Yeah. I've never seen those two apart when I first met him."
"So isn't that a Pokemon from an 8th Gym Level Challenge?" Sabrina narrowed her eyes. After Raichu's display of power, Sabrina wondered why this fight felt a little unfair.
"Huh. Now that you mention it. He is!"
Sabrina felt the need to suppress her frustration at her acquaintance. At least with Capone, he was honest in sending out an 8th Gymbadge Pokemon. Why was a mafia boss showing more honesty than Lt. Surge!?
The fight between the two Pokemon went on. Unlike the first exchange, Astro couldn't move as freely because of the cracked and uneven field. That meant that even if he avoided close Thunder Punches that would have taken him out, his footing was bad enough that Raichu's tail would slap or jab the fighting type after the dodge. But it wasn't too bad as Astro also got Vacuum Wave hits at mid-range and point-blank. Sometimes, as he would get hit and thrown away, he would spin in the air and sweep his leg, creating a Vacuum Wave with his leg and hitting the stomach of Raichu.
Lt. Surge saw the damage on both Pokemon, but Ash's Riolu was already on his last legs. "Alright, it's time to finish this! Raichu, Giga Impact!" He declared as the two closed into a fight again.
Ash's mind went into rapid-fire after hearing Lt. Surge yell that. Astro couldn't handle another Giga Impact from that absurdly strong Raichu. But he did remember something that happened in El Almohada's match. And if both combatants kept copying moves from each other...
Ash linked to Astro his plan. The fighting type charged a Focus Blast as fast as he could and threw it at the same area Giga Impact was about to hit.
People in Vermillion City saw smoke come out in the distance but then realized it was from the Vermillion Gym and continued on about their day.
As the dust settled again, Astro and Raichu... were both out cold from the damage of both attacks clashing together.
"Both Raichu and Riolu are out! Round 2 ends in a draw!" Visquez declared.
"You did great, Astro. Sorry that I couldn't think of anything better." Ash sighed as he recalled his costumed friend. He tried to make another accident of clashing super attacks that took out Magneton. But Astro was too close to Raichu this time, making both of them take the brunt of those clashing attacks.
"Round 3! Trainers, pick your Pokemon!" The referee declared.
Ash thought about his next Pokemon; who could he use? If Lt. Surge's Pokemon is even anything like his Raichu, he couldn't use Prince Nidorino. Lt. Surge's Pokemon are all powerhouses and while the poison type could match the strength, he didn't believe he could match stamina. Notus was another obvious problem. She was a flying type, and if he told her no, he'd just ignite her warrior spirit and would want to fight even more. That would be bad for this fight. That only left Jigglypuff or Mr. Puff.
Ash decided his choice.
'Such pulse-pounding battles! I take claim to the next opponent!' The raven-haired teen didn't realize that Notus was already on the field!
'Yay! Gooo friend~!' 'Do our team proud, War Chief!' Both Mr. Puff and Prince Nidorino shouted from their side behind Ash while Notus fixed on her googles. The young teen inwardly groaned as he discovered that there was a downside to having all his Pokemon out of their Poke Balls.
But, if he trusted El Almohada's dream powers, he was going to trust Notus and her ability.
"An unevolved flying type?" Lt. Surge laughed as he got out his last Poke Ball. "Either you're cocky, or you're dumber than you look." Before Ash could even respond to that insult, he threw the sphere out into the ruined battlefield.
The Pokemon Lt. Surge chose last over his own starter was none other than a Manectric.
Ash thought it was kinda weird as this Pokemon didn't look as tough as Raichu. To the teen, Magneton looked more intimidating. However, Sabrina and Spark both widened their eyes in alarm when they saw the bejeweled necklace around the electric Pokemon's neck: especially the marble-like sphere etched into it.
"He has one!?" Sabrina almost stood from where she sat.
"I didn't know he got one. Where did he get that?" Spark asked aloud.
Ash overheard the reaction of his friends and team leader before Lt. Surge caught his attention with a thunderous laugh.
"Tell me, Kid. Do you know Mega Evolution?"
"Yeah! It's a form that allows some Pokemon to evolve past their usual limits." Ash answered aloud as he thought back to how cool it was to learn all that stuff. But as he tried to think back, he realized that his memories were only about him thinking how cool it would be to own one. "But I forgot how it works."
"How about I give you a refresher?" Lt. Surge took out something from his pocket: a soldier tag with a jewel etched into it that was similar to the one his Manectric wore.
Ash felt a sudden spike of energy from both crystals before a rainbow light shone from both of them. Ash and everyone else watching covered their eyes.
When the light died down, Manetric changed its form. There was this aura of overwhelming power in front of him and Notus.
'Alright, maggot!' Mega Manetric sounded much like a drill sergeant. 'If you think you're going to beat me, then you've got another thing coming! I didn't go through 11 wars just to lie down and fall flat on my head. I'll make a man out of you, and there won't be a montage!' Ash did mental math and realized that one couldn't live through 11 wars and be around the same age as Sabrina.
Or could they...?
-Sabrina felt annoyed for some reason.-
'I have no idea what you said, but I know when I am being challenged!' Notus pointed her wing at the Mega. 'I accept this challenge!'
"Round 3! Begin!" The referee exclaimed.
(Agility!) Ash linked to his flying type. The moment he said this, the flying type split into around eight afterimages that sped into the main directions of a compass.
Lt. Surge smirked. "Use Thunderbolt." The name of the move did not match the intensity and range of the blast the Mega Pokemon unleashed. It looked more like a combination of Thunder in power and Discharge in range.
And by range, the attack practically shot out in all directions where Spearow fled. Ash paled when the seven other afterimages got struck down simultaneously. Notus had enough insight to dive to a boulder Raichu had and hid behind it for cover.
'You call that evasive maneuvers!?' Mega Manetric cried out. 'I've seen soccer moms in a Black Friday sale move faster than that! No really, I have!'
(Agility, again!) Ash cried out before Mega Manetric attacked the rock with another Thunderbolt. However, even though his order was instantaneous, so was the attack that exploded the rock. Luckily, another 8 clones flew off.
Notus knew she couldn't dodge attacks forever. So she had to go on the offensive, or else she would be struck down in one hit. She looped in the air, signaling her out among her images. Mega Manetric attacked the moment Aerial Ace reached top speed.
For once, the battle between Raichu and Astro worked in Ash's favor. While the move wasn't super effective, Manetric's footing was impaired enough for the flying type to strike the side and cause the Mega Pokemon to fall.
The attack hit and made Mega Manetric fall, but he got up and looked angry instead of hurt.
'You call that an attack!? I get more pain from laying on my bed improperly! Now drop and give me 100 dodges!' He fired Thunderbolt after Thunderbolt at the Spearow.
(Mirror Move!) Notus summoned a copy of Mega Manetric that fired his own electrical blast to counter the one heading her way. While she copied the move, her mirror image could not hope to overpower the raw power of a mega.
But it did slow down the speedy attack.
Luckily, Agility also increased Notus's speed twice, so she could avoid the attacks much easier. The problem was that they were still hard to dodge, even with help from Mirror Move, and one of those hits would more than likely be a knockout.
Ash had to think. It would not be long until Mega Manetric saw a pattern in Notus' flight and pin her down. He wished he had a ground type for this fight— A thought occurred to him. (Notus, how fast can you spin?)
(Spin?)
(I need you to spin as fast as you can rotate your body and hit the ground!)
Seeing not much choice, Notus did as she was told. She spun to the point of the blur before she bulleted to the ground. Everyone else expected her to crash, they did not expect her to dig into the ground like a drill.
When she came out, she was on the other side of the broken field and trying to shake off the dirt on her googles. She did look dizzy from the move, but regained her senses. Mega Manetric turned around to fire another Thunderbolt, but Notus used another Mirror Move to stop the attack long enough for her to attempt the spinning drill move once more.
Notus appeared on a different side again, her features showing frustration. However, she looked less disoriented when compared to the first time.
"Is that?" Spark raised his brow after watching the Spearow dive into the ground with turbulent spinning. "Is that Drill Run?" To his side, Sabrina recalled the move being a ground-type move.
(Huh. Creating a move mid-battle.) Sabrina silently admired her student's ability to be unpredictable in a battle.
In the meantime, Lt. Surge didn't like how a flying type seemed to be learning how to use Dig. But an idea came to his mind to get rid of that annoying Mirror Move. "Mega Manetric, Flamethrower!"
The electric Pokemon unleashed flames that a fully evolved Fire Type would not be able to match. Notus started to gather energy for a Mirror Move to protect herself.
(Notus, fly up! Agility!)
Ash's alarm in his voice made the flying type reconsider. She did as she was ordered and realized why her trainer made such an order. The Flamethrower that decimated the area was a decoy. Mega Manetric fired another Thunderbolt right after the fires. If Notus had attempted to counter with Mirror Move, the Thunderbolt would have hit her after the collision of the two Flamethrowers.
Ash knew that Mega Manetric's attacks were strong and fast enough to pierce through an explosion between two attacks.
Notus knew they were running out of time. As she spun into the earth once more.
Lt. Surge knew that this time, his opponent's Spearow looked talented enough to figure out what she was doing with that move. "Manetric, keep moving across the field!"
The Mega did so, racing around the field like his very element. If even those watching above could barely keep up with the Mega, how could Notus hope to launch her attack or keep up the speed of her spin?
Ash, gritted his teeth. They knew better than to let Notus get a clear shot at Mega Manetric. But if told her to stop, then the Mega Manetric would be able to strike her dow...
Wait a second. For him to attack, he'd have to stop as well.
(Notus, stop for a second!) Ash noticed some of the rocks shuffle where Mega Manetric wasn't running on. However, Lt. Surge noticed this as well.
"There! Thunder!" (Notus, my right!)
Thunder struck the cracked field. As the area collapsed in on itself, Notus shot out of the ground, right underneath Mega Manetric. Knowing that she hit her target, Notus put her entire effort into her new Drill Run move, causing the Mega Manetric to spin and carrying him right into the ceiling of the building.
As dust exploded in the ceiling, both Notus and Mega Manetric started falling. Notus shook her head as she—
Mega Manetric woke up first. Seeing that his opponent was still disoriented from the spinning of her new attack, he fired an empowered Thunderbolt down on the flying type.
As one could imagine, a super-effective hit by a STAB-boosted, mega-powered electric Pokemon created a powerful explosion in the air that sent Notus crashing back into the field like a comet.
"Notus!" Ash yelled out after seeing his Pokemon fall like that.
Mega Manetric landed on his feet but winced as if the hit did more damage than he thought. 'Not bad, private. There might be hope for you yet.'
As the dust settled, everyone noticed that Notus seemed to be standing, albeit with electricity sparking all over her to signify that she was paralyzed. Her eyes looked like she was barely keeping them open, let alone how her feet wobbled to even keeper herself from falling.
(Notus!) Ash linked before he noticed. (You did great, but we still have...)
(Wait!) Her mind started before it faded for a second. (Do not yield for me yet, Ash.)
Ash was about to ask his Pokemon why, but his link with her seemed to answer for him. He had flashes of Fearow? The teen couldn't understand why he was seeing images of Two Fearows and...
The teen pieced together that he was seeing pieces of his friend's life. Among the quick flashes, he realized that the Fearow he saw wasn't Notus' father, but her mother.
(Strength can come from the ability to rise past pain.)
The echo of Notus' memory reached Ash. At the same time, Sabrina felt something unnatural in Ash's psychic link with his Pokemon.
Ash only smiled. (Then let's give it our all! Drill Run, one more time!)
Even though Notus looked to be paralyzed and weakened, she forced her wings open.
Mega Manetric narrowed his eyes but his lips rose to smile when he saw his opponent. 'Now those are the eyes of a soldier!'
Before he could fire another Thunderbolt, Spearow acted first despite her paralysis. Manetric was too impressed that he didn't realize Spearow was already using a move in her state.
The Mega Pokemon dodged the attack, only to notice a hole where Spearow once was.
"Stand your ground, Manetric!" Lt. Surge cried out. Even if the order was different from before, The Mega understood what his trainer was suggesting. He narrowed his eyes to the ground in front of him. And as he was still this time, he could feel rumbling heading towards him getting stronger and stronger.
At that moment, before the Spearow could unleash her final attack, Mega Manetric unleashed a Thunderbolt in a wide direction.
The entire area between the two exploded.
As the dust settled, Mega Manetric stood tall with Notus knocked out cold.
"The winner of this round is Manetric!" Visquez declared. "Now, prepare for the final round!"
Ash recalled Notus back into her Poke Ball. "You did amazing, Notus." He was worried though. Now it was El Almohada versus Mega Manetric. "Go, El Almohada!"
The psychic Pokemon returned to the field. As one could imagine, his eyes widened to the size of saucers when he saw how different the area became when he was last there. That was not including the scary-looking Pokemon narrowing his eyes at him from across the broken field.
'What in tarnation are you wearing? At least the last one had appropriate gear!'
El Almohada started to shiver in fear.
Ash thought this was going to be one hard battle coming up.
Visquez raised her hand. "Let the last match... begin!"
Mega Manetric stepped forward.
And then the floor collapsed underneath him.
It turns out that Notus' last attacks weren't for naught. She was able to destroy the stability of the already broken and cracked ground with her digging. As such, the Mega wasn't expecting to fall down and have pieces of dirt collapse around him.
Not only that, Mega Manetric must have been toughing it out more than he thought he did. Because when the dust settled, he was out cold already. Looks like Notus' first clean hit with Drill Run did more damage than anyone thought.
Lt. Surge rubbed his temples. "Right. Mega Manetric is powerful and fast, but I never trained him to take hits well enough yet." He looked to Visquez. "You can call it."
The referee nodded. "The Winner is Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town!"
Unlike his rapid-fire commands and quick thinking, Ash took a second to let those words sink in. "We won? We won!" Ash cried out before running up to hug El Almohada.
'Err! Yes! I knew we would win the whole time!' The psychic exclaimed.
Meanwhile, back in the stands. "That was a fun match!" Spark laughed after watching the battle.
However, Sabrina remained silent. Her eyes narrowed to the field and where Lt. Surge recalled his Pokemon. She didn't quite like how Ash only won because of Lt. Surge's careless use of power combined with his own luck. She was going to have to grill him on that later on. Not only that, what was that strange energy she felt between Ash and his Pokemon? She never felt anything like that before, and she only heard the psychic equivalent of static at that moment.
Lt. Surge made his way towards his challenger. "Not bad, kid." He fished something out of his pockets and tossed it over to the teen. Ash reached out and saw what he caught: The Thunder Badge. "You won. Now, I need you and your friend to get a move on. I've got a lot of fixing to do."
As soon as he said this, the last chunk of the wall Raichu broke collapsed on itself.
"... And twice as much paperwork for a new forcefield."
"So," Sabrina carefully asked. "With this gym down, what is next?"
Ash had a map as the two, along with Ash's Pokemon, started walking west. "It says here Saffron City is the next gym! And let me check who that Gym Leader is!"
Sabrina's eyes narrowed. However, a small idea started to fill her mind that would help her with Ash's shortcomings in this last gym battle. She reached for a Poke Ball to bring out her Alakazam. Before Ash could pick up his PDA from Team Instinct, Sabrina held his shoulder and told her Alakazam to use Teleport.
The evolved psychic made the entire area shift for Ash and the rest of Team Luckless. A second later, they all found themselves in a city bigger than Vermillion.
Ash looked behind Sabrina and saw the sign claiming that the building behind them was the Saffron City Gym. "What? You teleported us to Saffron City? Next to the Gym!? But long-distance Teleport works best in places Psychic Pokemon are familiar with! Wait! You're a gym leader too! That must mean...!"
Sabrina nodded as Ash started to figure things out.
"You're really close to this gym leader!"
The Gym trainers of Saffron City were glad to see their leader and teacher, Sabrina, return. But they were confused as to why she just slapped some random kid in the back of his head.
[Author Notes]
Oh, Ash. You are just too much fun to write sometimes.
I got the idea of Spark being Lt. Surge's nephew by the famous Surfacage. An amazing artist who writes a lot of great Pokemon Go shorts and comics. Their works are so incredible, and you should definitely see them if you haven't already.
Also, El Almohada's theme music is unashamedly Meta Knight's Guitar Solo from the anime.
Another thing I liked to mention is that Raichu's Giga Impact is very much based on Terry Bogart's Power Geyser.
Lt. Surge's Raichu: Urr ye okay?
While on that topic, I thought it would be funny to make Lt. Surge's Raichu Scottish. Why? Don't ask me; I don't know what my mind is doing half the time. But boy, did I have fun writing him.
And another comment is to say hello to another cameo: Goh and Chloe from Pokemon Journeys! (Also Visquez) I mean, Ash is in Vermillion City. And this series started before Journey got announced. I thought it would be cool to mention they exist.
Now to the bad news, Sabrina teleported Ash directly to the next city. Which sadly means no strange misadventure on the way there... unless?
Anyway, I hope this story finds you well. I had a lot of fun writing it, and I hope you all had fun reading it too.