AUTHOR'S NOTE: Greetings, readers! As hard as it is to believe, we've reached the tenth chapter of the continuing adventures of Tristan, Hillary, and Pikachu as their Hoenn region journey continues! Some parts of Tristan's Gym Battle against Roxanne may resemble part of Ash's Gym Battle against her. Still, I hope you enjoy this chapter.

TEASER: Tristan and Pikachu finally take on Roxanne and her Rock Pokémon. Will Pikachu's newly learned Iron Tail help seal the victory for him?

Chapter 10: TAILS, YOU WIN

(Music Cue: Opening M01B 1997-1998)

Today is the day Tristan has been waiting for ever since he arrived in the Hoenn region. It's his big chance to earn his first Hoenn League Gym Badge. He and Pikachu have been training for this moment. Will their new Iron Tail attack give Tristan the boost he needs to win against Roxanne?

The next morning, just outside the Pokémon Center, Hillary, Wayne, Marc, and Lisa found Tristan and Pikachu warming up for their Gym Battle against Roxanne.

"Yup, I thought you two would be here," smiled Hillary.

"Yeah," replied Tristan. "I want to make sure that my Pokémon and I are all ready to go, so we've gotta warm up and be prepared for whatever comes our way."

"Hmmm," said Wayne to himself. "Maybe I should think about doing something like that before every one of my Gym matches."

"We all thought we should be there for your match against Roxanne," explained Marc. "You might not have the most powerful Pokémon, but you and your Pokémon sure have heart and soul."

"Thanks, Marc, we'll do our best," replied Tristan.

"Well, are you ready?" asked Lisa.

"I'm ready to go," answered Tristan. He was feeling very confident.

Presently, Nurse Joy arrived. "Tristan, Hillary, I've just received a package from your aunt and uncle in Littleroot Town."

Tristan and Hillary were surprised.

So were Wayne, Marc, and Lisa.

Tristan and Hillary opened the package, which contained...

"All right! New clothes and a backpack for each of us!" said Tristan.

"Let's try them on!" suggested Hillary.

(Music Cue: Lilycove City (full version))

A few minutes later, Tristan and Hillary were in their brand-new clothes.

Tristan had dark-blue shorts and a green t-shirt, representing the colors of sapphire and emerald, respectively. His new hat had different shades of gold and silver colors.

Hillary had dark blue shorts and a dark-red t-shirt, representing the colors of sapphire and ruby, respectively. She had a new pink hat to go along with it.

"You both look great, guys!" smiled Wayne.

"I'm impressed," added Marc. "Mom and Dad must've gone to great lengths to send those to you."

"Actually, Marc, your grandparents made those clothes for Tristan and Hillary," explained Nurse Joy. "They sent them to your mom and dad in Littleroot Town, who delivered them all the way here."

"I guess we owe them all a really big thank you," replied Hillary. "Now you'll be ready to take on your Gym Battle challenge, Tristan."

"Yeah," agreed Tristan.

"And I'll be ready for any Pokémon Contest," continued Hillary.

This surprised Wayne, Marc, and Lisa.

"Are you really going to try and become a Pokémon Coordinator, Hillary?" asked Lisa.

Hillary nodded. "All those Pokémon that I saw competing in that Pokémon Contest put on beautiful performances. I'd like to see my own Pokémon's appeal shine through. Right, Togepi?"

Togepi trilled happily in agreement.

"And Tristan and Pikachu believe that I can do it, too, right?"

"You bet we do," replied Tristan.

Pikachu nodded in agreement as well.

"Well, there's no stopping Hillary," chuckled Marc. "If they support your dream to be a Pokémon Coordinator, then we do also."

Wayne and Lisa nodded.

"Now that we got that straightened out, let's see about getting to the Gym!" said Tristan.

Pikachu was excited for the upcoming Gym Battle.

At the Gym, Roxanne and her senior students were preparing the battlefield, which was very rocky.

Roxanne studied the field carefully. Then she said, "Okay, good. Looks like we're ready for our match."

No sooner did she say that than Tristan, Hillary, Wayne, Marc, and Lisa entered.

"Good morning," said Tristan.

Pikachu happily greeted Roxanne and her students.

"Good morning, Tristan," replied Roxanne. "You're looking well. And you and Hillary are dressed in different clothes since I saw you yesterday. Did you sleep okay?"

"Yeah. I'm ready to go," answered Tristan confidently.

"Very well then. I'm ready to see what surprises you have in store for me today."

"Tristan sure seems confident," said Hillary to herself. "Of course, Roxanne looks pretty confident too. I wonder how this battle will turn out."

Meanwhile, Taz was just outside the Gym, taking a look at a big hole. "I wonder who dug this, anyway. Oh, who cares? I can use it to make a shortcut to the Gym. Then I'll steal every Pokémon inside. And the best part is, they did my dirty work for me!" And he nimbly hopped into the hole, laughing as he went. But to his surprise, he found that the hole had no pathway. "Hey, what is this? Looks like omebody's trying to undo my progress! Well, no matter. I'll just dig my way to the Gym myself. So let's bury the hatchet." And he took out his shovel and began to dig his way toward the Gym. But unfortunately, he was stopped dead in his tracks when he heard a whistle blow.

The whistle belonged to Officer Jenny. "Hey, you! Get out of there this instant, or I'll place you under arrest!"

(Music Cue: Magnemite (as heard in the Japanese version of "Pikachu's Summer Vacation" and in the episode: "Hello, Pummelo"))

"Yikes!" exclaimed Taz. "The police!" He quickly jumped out of the hole and made a beeline for it as fast as his legs would carry him.

But Officer Jenny ran after him in a heartbeat. "Come back here!" she ordered as she chased him away from the Gym.

Tristan and Roxanne faced each other on opposite sides of the battlefield.

"I wonder what Tristan's strategy is," said Lisa. "I'm getting excited just thinking about it."

"I wish I was battling Roxanne," grumbled Wayne impatiently.

"Don't worry, Wayne, you'll get another chance," Marc assured him. "But right now, we have to cheer really hard for Tristan.

"Go, Tristan! You can do it!" shouted Hillary.

Togepi cheered loudly for Tristan and Pikachu.

One of Roxanne's senior students, an intern, came to judge the match. "The battle between the Gym Leader, Roxanne, and the challenger, Tristan from New Bark Town, will now begin. This will be an elimination match with each Trainer using two Pokémon. Only the challenger is allowed to substitute Pokémon during the match."

"Let's begin," said Roxanne as she took out her first Poké Ball. "Geodude, I choose you!" She tossed her Poké Ball into the air.

A rocky Pokémon with arms and hands emerged from the white light that shot out of it.

"She's starting with Geodude first," said Marc.

"Geodude, huh?" said Hillary. "I think I remember seeing one of those."

"I'd better check it out," said Wayne as he took out her Pokédex and scanned Geodude with it.

(Music Cue: Hoenn Pokédex theme))

"Geodude, the Rock Pokémon. Geodude has incredibly high defensive power, making it virtually resistant to any physical attacks."

"Man, I wish I'd known that sooner," said Wayne. "Let's just hope Tristan has a strategy to counter it."

(Music Cue: Johto Rival Theme (full version))

"Don't worry, Wayne," Lisa assured him. "Even though he realizes that Geodude's body isn't just for defense, he knows its hard body is super powerful when it uses attacks like Tackle. Knowing him, he won't be fazed one bit.

And he wasn't, for Tristan smiled. Still, he knew Geodude wouldn't go down without a real fight, and this was a challenge he'd eagerly accept. "So, a Geodude, huh? That's just fine with me. Mudkip, I choose you!" shouted Tristan as he threw his Poké Ball.

Mudkip emerged from the white light that shot out of it and jumped onto the battlefield to face Geodude.

"An excellent choice, Tristan," smiled Roxanne. "But don't think that type alone will give you the advantage over me."

"Of course not," replied Tristan. "This will be decided by our abilities. Right, Mudkip?"

Mudkip gave a hard nod.

"Begin the match!" announced the intern.

"Geodude, Rollout attack, let's go!" instructed Roxanne.

Geodude rolled into a ball and rolled fast towards Mudkip.

"Wow, that's fast!" exclaimed Wayne. "It seems even faster than when Torchic and I battled it."

"Dodge, Mudkip!" commanded Tristan.

Mudkip nimbly jumped out of the way of the attack as Geodude bashed into a rock.

"That's a pretty fast Mudkip you have," smiled Roxanne. "But don't think that dodging alone will win the match for you."

"Nope," replied Tristan. "This battle's just beginning. All right, Mudkip, Water Gun attack!"

Mudkip unleashed a powerful blast of water from its mouth at Geodude, scoring a direct hit on it.

"Yeah, that's it, Mudkip!" commended Tristan.

Mudkip smiled and nodded.

But Roxanne didn't seem bothered by it. She knew that she was at a disadvantage, but kept her cool just like Tristan did. "Geodude, use Mega Punch!"

Geodude made a fist, which glowed in a white light, and it scored a serious hit on Mudkip, who was sent flying.

"Hang in there, Mudkip!" encouraged Tristan.

Mudkip straightened itself out and landed safely back on the ground.

"What a nice recovery!" remarked Lisa. "Even after getting hit by that Mega Punch, Mudkip was able to land on its feet, reducing the damage."

Recovery, thought Wayne. Maybe if I can teach my Pokémon to recover from attacks like that, then maybe I can last longer in battles against any kind of Pokémon.

"Geodude, hit 'em with another Rollout attack!" instructed Roxanne.

Geodude rolled into a ball and proceeded to roll toward Mudkip.

I have to stop that Geodude right here and now, thought Tristan, and I know the perfect way to do it. "All right, Mudkip, use Water Gun on the battlefield!" he commanded aloud.

Mudkip gave a nod and shot a stream of water toward the ground.

Instantly, the battlefield began turning from solid rock into soft wet mud. Of course, it brought the result that Tristan had expected, for Geodude's Rollout attack had been stopped dead in its tracks, much to Roxanne's surprise.

"Look at that!" gasped Marc. "Geodude looks like it's stuck in the mud!"

"Tristan must've known that by turning that battlefield into mud, it'd stop Geodude right in its tracks," added Hillary.

"Mudkip, hit it with Mud-Slap!" commanded Tristan.

Mudkip used its hind legs to kick up mud into Geodude's eyes, making it unable to see where Mudkip's next attack would come from.

"Geodude, get away!" cried Roxanne.

But Geodude, still stuck in the mud, couldn't move.

"Now, Mudkip, finish it off with Water Gun!" shouted Tristan.

Mudkip unleashed another powerful blast of water from its mouth, scoring another super-effective hit on Geodude, causing it to collapse and faint.

"Geodude!" exclaimed Roxanne.

"Geodude is unable to battle...Mudkip wins!" declared the intern as he raised his green flag in the air.

"Great job, Mudkip!" commended Tristan.

Pikachu congratulated it too.

Mudkip gave a happy reply as it jumped up and down.

"Yeah! Way to go, Tristan!" cheered Hillary.

"That mud was a brilliant strategy," remarked Marc. "By turning that battlefield into mud, Tristan knew that Geodude would be immobile when using an attack like Rollout. So he used the field to his own advantage."

Roxanne recalled her Geodude and held her Poké Ball close to her. "You were really great, Geodude." She put her Poké Ball away and turned to Tristan. "That was an excellent strategy, Tristan. By using Water Gun on the field, you managed to stop Geodude right in its tracks. But now, it's time for you to see my next choice. Nosepass, I choose you!" She tossed her second Poké Ball into the air.

Nosepass emerged from the white light that shot out of it.

"So Nosepass is up next," said Tristan to himself. He turned to Mudkip and warned, "You'd better be careful, Mudkip. Nosepass' Zap Cannon attack could do a whole lot of damage."

Tristan's right, thought Wayne. No wonder we had so much trouble against that Nosepass. That Zap Cannon did so much damage to Taillow that it fainted instantly.

(Music Cue: Groudon Kyogre & Rayquaza Battle (full version))

"All right, let's continue," said Roxanne. "Nosepass, use Zap Cannon!"

"Zap Cannon already?!" exclaimed Marc. "But why?"

Marc was about to find out, for Nosepass' nose glowed in a white light, then it unleashed a yellow blast of electricity from its nose.

"Dodge it now!" ordered Tristan.

Quickly, Mudkip jumped out of the way of the attack, but unfortunately, Nosepass stayed on Mudkip like a magnet, and it successfully hit its target, giving Mudkip such a huge zap.

"Mudkip!" cried Tristan.

Mudkip found itself immobile as the static electricity surged all over it.

"Looks like the force of that Zap Cannon attack has left Mudkip completely paralyzed," said Marc worriedly.

"Paralyzed? No way!" gasped Lisa.

"That's right," agreed Hillary. "Zap Cannon always paralyzes the opponent if it hits. And Electric attacks like Zap Cannon are super-effective on Water Pokémon like Mudkip.

Sure enough, Mudkip was still suffering from not only the paralysis from Zap Cannon, but the damage that ensued from it too.

But Nosepass wasn't out of the woods yet either, for it, too, found itself stuck in the mud after Mudkip soaked the battlefield with so much water.

"Mudkip, can you still battle?" asked Tristan.

Mudkip struggled, but it gave a hard nod, indicating that it was ready to continue the battle.

"This battle's not over yet. All right, Mudkip, give Nosepass a Water Gun attack!" ordered Tristan.

Mudkip barely managed to shoot a powerful blast of water from its mouth at Nosepass, scoring a direct hit on it and giving it a good soaking.

"Yeah! I knew you could do it, Mudkip!" commended Tristan.

Despite the paralysis it was experiencing, Mudkip gave a happy reply.

"Don't think for a minute that we're going to be stopped so easily, especially now that Mudkip has mobility issues at the moment," reminded Roxanne. "All right, Nosepass, let's show Tristan your newest attack. Use Rock Tomb!"

"What's Rock Tomb?" wondered Tristan.

Despite the muddy surface, Nosepass stomped its foot hard on the ground.

An instant later, giant rocks protruded from the ground and surrounded Mudkip, squeezing it tight.

Everyone gasped in shock.

"That Rock Tomb stopped Mudkip dead in its tracks!" exclaimed Marc.

"And that's not all," added Lisa. "That Rock Tomb attack can also lower the opponent's speed. So in addition to being paralyzed and decreasing its speed, Mudkip has to deal with the rocks slowing it down, too."

"Now, Nosepass, wrap it up with Zap Cannon!" commanded Roxanne.

Nosepass' nose glowed in a white light once again, then it unleashed another yellow blast of electricity from its nose at the pile of rocks surrounding Mudkip, scoring a direct hit.

The blast was so powerful that it not only crushed the rocks into smithereens, but the force of the rocks that ensued from the blast sent Mudkip flying.

"Mudkip, no!" cried Tristan.

Mudkip fell to the ground with a hard thud as a cloud of dust and mud formed around it.

When the dust cleared, everyone saw that Mudkip had a dazed expression in its eyes; it had been knocked out.

"Mudkip is unable to battle...Nosepass wins!" declared the referee.

"Oh, poor Mudkip," said Hillary sadly.

Togepi trilled sadly in agreement.

"And things were going so well for it, too," added Lisa.

Tristan held Mudkip gently in his arms. "You were great, Mudkip. Now take a nice, long rest." He recalled Mudkip back to its Poké Ball.

"It's always good to have a surprise attack handy," smiled Roxanne. "Agreed?"

"Agreed," smiled Tristan. "I'm just getting warmed up." Then he turned to his trusty companion. "All right, Pikachu, I choose you."

Pikachu nodded and leaped onto the battlefield to face Nosepass.

"Well, I guess I shouldn't be surprised," said Roxanne. "I remember a Trainer named Ash used a Pikachu in his Gym Battle, too. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if it knows Iron Tail."

The only person who was surprised was Tristan. How does she know that Pikachu knows Iron Tail? he thought. This'll be tougher than I thought...but I won't give up.

Meanwhile, just outside the Gym, Taz was hiding in some nearby bushes, and was figuring out where to start a brand-new tunnel since the old one had been sealed off and kept under close guard. "Boy, if I was able to use my Pokémon on those cops, they would've been sorry."

Just then, a small whitish insectoid Pokémon crawled into view. It had brown forelegs and sharp claws.

"Hey, now that's new," smirked Taz. "Let's see what it is." And he took out his guidebook of Pokémon that live in the Hoenn region and found the image he was looking for. "I see. It's a Nincada! This'll make a huge edition to my team. But I really don't wanna replace Electabuzz, Magmar, Ariados, or Poliwrath. They're all really strong. But then again, maybe I won't have to." He took out an empty Poké Ball and threw it at Nincada while it wasn't looking.

Nincada transformed into red energy and disappeared inside the ball.

The Poké Ball wiggled for a few seconds as a red light flashed. Soon after, the flashing ceased and the ball stopped wiggling.

"Well now, I just caught a Nincada!" smirked Taz as he picked up his Poké Ball. "Watch out, kiddies, because I've got a new friend."

"There he is!"

(Music Cue: Exeggutor & Oddish (as heard in the Japanese version of "Pikachu's Summer Vacation and the episode: "A Mudkip Mission"))

Taz knew that voice, for it belonged to Officer Jenny with several officers surrounding her. "Yikes!" he screamed, and he made a beeline for it, causing another chase to ensue.

"Hey! Stop right there!" ordered Officer Jenny as she and the officers chased him out of the city.

Back inside the Gym, Tristan saw that Mudkip's Water Gun had soaked Nosepass. That's it! Water conducts electricity! So Thunderbolt would be an excellent choice to start this off. "All right, Pikachu start off with a Thunderbolt!"

(Music Cue: Hoenn Elite Four Battle (full version))

Pikachu jumped up as sparks crackled from its cheeks. Then it unleashed a powerful yellow bolt of electricity from its body at Nosepass, scoring a huge direct hit on it.

"Yeah! Great start!" said Hillary excitedly. "Tristan must've realized that Nosepass was soaking wet, making Pikachu's strength double!"

"You're saying that Mudkip's Water Gun helped?" wondered Wayne.

"That's right," replied Hillary. "Because water conducts electricity, Nosepass suffered double the damage from Pikachu's Thunderbolt attack."

"Wow, awesome strategy!" smiled Wayne.

"No wonder Tristan seems to be prepared all the time," added Lisa.

"Let's hope he can keep this up," said Marc. "Sure, I know that was a great hit with Thunderbolt, but he'll need more than that to win against Roxanne."

"Don't worry, Marc," Hillary assured him. "I'm sure he knows that too."

Sure enough, Nosepass felt the shock of the attack, but it had to step back to recover from the damage.

"Good," said Tristan to himself. "Looks like your Nosepass is still wanting to battle."

"Yep, that's right," smiled Roxanne. "We won't go down without a real fight. I'm sure you knew that going in that this would be a tough match."

"I sure did, and we're ready for more!" replied Tristan eagerly.

Pikachu excitedly agreed.

"Pikachu, Iron Tail, let's go!" commanded Tristan.

Pikachu leaped into the air as its tail lit up. Then it used its tail to strike Nosepass hard, right on the head, sending it backward again.

"Nice one, Pikachu!" commended Tristan.

Pikachu gave a happy reply.

"I thought as much," said Roxanne confidently. "Your Pikachu knows Iron Tail. But now, it's our turn to attack. Nosepass, use Sandstorm!"

Nosepass' nose glowed in a white blue light again, and an instant later, a sandstorm whipped up.

Everyone was forced to shield their faces from the sand.

I can't see a thing through this sand, thought Tristan. And Nosepass can easily find and strike Pikachu when I least expect it. "Pikachu, listen! You've gotta use your ears to sense Nosepass' movements!" he instructed aloud.

Pikachu nodded and pricked its ears up to listen for Nosepass in the howling sandstorm. Sure enough, as Nosepass closed in on Pikachu using its nose, Pikachu was able to hear it coming from behind, giving a nod to Tristan.

"Dodge it!" ordered Tristan.

Pikachu jumped out of the way just before Nosepass stomped on it.

Roxanne gave a smile. She was having just as much fun as Tristan was with battling. "Okay, Tristan, I hope you're ready for this. If this works, then our battle's over. Nosepass, use Zap Cannon!"

Nosepass' nose glowed white again, and it unleashed another powerful yellow blast of electricity from it.

"Pikachu, take the blast!" commanded Tristan.

Pikachu leaped into the air and received Nosepass' electricity from Zap Cannon, much to Roxanne's surprise.

"Pikachu absorbed the electricity!" gasped Hillary.

"Now hit it with Quick Attack!" ordered Tristan.

Pikachu, still armed with the static electricity from Nosepass' Zap Cannon sped toward Nosepass with a white line streaking behind it. It quickly rammed into Nosepass and inflicted paralysis into it just like Nosepass did with Mudkip.

"Looks like Nosepass got a taste of its own medicine," smiled Wayne. "It can't even make any attack now."

"That Zap Cannon stopped Nosepass just like Tristan planned he would," added Lisa.

"All right, Pikachu, this is our big chance. Hit it with Iron Tail now!" shouted Tristan.

Pikachu nodded and leaped into the air. Then its tail began to glow in a white light, and it used the momentum of it to strike Nosepass hard, giving it a super-effective hit.

Roxanne gasped, for she knew that Nosepass wouldn't survive an attack as powerful as Iron Tail, especially since it had become paralyzed from its own attack.

Nosepass fell backwards to the ground with static electricity still coursing all over its body. It had been knocked out.

"Nosepass is unable to battle...Pikachu wins!" declared the intern. "Victory of this match goes to Tristan from New Bark Town!"

(Music Cue: Victory! Gym Leader (full version))

"Yeah, we did it!" cheered Tristan as he and Pikachu ran to meet each other on the field in congratulations.

"Wow, Tristan won!" gasped Lisa. "That was an awesome battle!"

"Tristan never ceases to amaze me," agreed Hillary.

Marc and Wayne nodded too.

This only made Wayne more excited for his Gym Battle coming up. "And soon, I'll amaze everyone too, when I get my first win just like Tristan."

That evening, Tristan, Hillary, and their cousins met Wayne outside the Gym.

"Thank you, Tristan," said Roxanne. "That was a great battle. I learned a whole lot from you and your Pikachu. Your teamwork reminds me so much of Ash and his Pikachu's teamwork when they were mastering Iron Tail. I'm pleased to present to you as a worthy Trainer with this Stone Badge." And she handed Tristan a shiny badge shaped like a stone.

Tristan gladly accepted the badge and replied, "Thank you so much, Roxanne. I won't forget this battle for a long time." Then he raised his new badge in the air and proudly proclaimed, "Yes! I got...a Stone Badge!"

"Pi-pikachu!" added Pikachu, striking a victory pose.

"Congratulations, Tristan and Pikachu," smiled Hillary. "That makes badge number one. And you both learned Iron Tail in the process."

"Yeah, and you have seven more badges to go," added Marc.

"We know you'll get them in no time," put in Lisa.

"Of course, I have some catching up to do, but I know I'll do it, just like you did!" said Wayne confidently.

"That's the spirit, Wayne," said Tristan. "With an attitude like that, you'll win that badge for sure."

Pikachu and Togepi agreed.

And so, Tristan earns his first Hoenn League badge, the Stone Badge, thanks to Mudkip and Pikachu. And soon, Tristan and Hillary will continue on their journey to the next Gym and the next adventure!

TO BE CONTINUED...