Our heroes are now on their way to Orbarrow City, the site of Ash's next Gym Battle, and Serena's next Pageant!
It was bright and shiny day, as the group made their way through a large meadow. Though there did seem to be a few patches of dried dirt around. However, the group suddenly heard a loud, crashing sound.
"Huh? What was that?" said Ash.
"Hey, look!" pointed RotomDex. That was when a small Pokémon came crashing into the ground next to them.
Serena gasped and ran over to the Pokémon, and said aloud, "Hey, guys! It's a Jumjoey!" Everyone saw the bruised Jumjoey on the ground carefully standing up, its face bunched in an angry expression. Without even acknowledging the group, it hopped away.
"What's he getting into?" said Ash. "Come on, I say we follow it!" Ash quickly ran off after the Jumjoey, as his friends called after him and followed.
After a while, they all gasped when they saw an enormous mob of Jumjoeys and Brawllabys all gathered around. "Incredible! So this is what a mob of Jumjoeys looks like!" RotomDex gushed it began taking pictures.
"Joey! Jumjoey!" came a voice. Everyone looked to the side to spy the bruised Jumjoey hopping back towards the mob. The other Jumjoeys saw it and began to chuckle at its bruises, but the Jumjoey readied its fists and prepared to charge in.
Suddenly, though, it was cut off by a Brawllaby, who scolded it, "Brawl, brawlla!"
The Jumjoey began bouncing and crying, "Joey! Joey!" It tried to punch the Brawllaby, but the Brawllaby was faster and kicked it away.
"What? Why are they fighting!?" said Serena.
The Jumjoey hopped back over and cried out in anger again, but then it saw another face bounce over. This Pokémon looked like a kangaroo as tall as a man, had dark red fur, black fur around its face like a mask, a pouch, and bare knuckles.
"Ooh! I know what that is!" said RotomDex. "Kangarumble. The Kickboxer Pokémon. A Fighting Type. A single Kangarumble will be designated as the leader of a mob of Brawllabys and Jumjoeys, a title chosen by its fighting prowess. Sometimes, when a Brawllaby evolves, it will challenge the older leader, and the loser must leave the mob. Evolves from Brawllaby at level 30, which evolves from Jumjoey at level 15."
"So that's Jumjoey's final evolved form, huh?" said Ash.
"Joey! Joey, jumjoey!" the Jumjoey bounced up and down, complaining.
The large Kangarumble looked at it, but the Brawllaby spoke up, "By, Brawllaby, by!"
Hearing this, the Kangarumble closed its eyes and shook its head. "Rum, Kangarum."
The Jumpjoey suddenly looked sad, as the Kangarumble pointed away and muttered, "Kanga, garumble."
The Jumjoey looked disheartened, before it sadly began bouncing away.
"What was that all about?" said Vernon.
"Oh, I think I understand," said RotomDex. "Jumjoeys can only become part of a mob if they hone their fighting prowess. But this Jumjoey has failed to impress the mob, so it looks like they're about to exile it."
"What? They can't do that!" said Ash.
"I'm afraid they can," said RotomDex. "But the way that Kangarumble looked at Jumjoey... yes, I can tell. It's Jumjoey's father!"
"Father?" said Serena.
"I think I understand what this is really about," said RotomDex. "That Kangarumble is the leader of this mob, but it looks like its getting up there in years, and will be forced to retire as leader soon. So it wants its child to be its replacement."
"Oh, I get it," said Ash, looking at the dejected Jumjoey bouncing away. "It's afraid its child can't measure up and defend the mob."
"Precisely," said RotomDex.
Ash stared after the Jumjoey before he suddenly spoke up again. "C'mon, guys, I think that Jumjoey needs some help!"
The Jumjoey bounced away further into the meadow, its face full of an upset feeling. Suddenly, a Starva pooped out of the ground, startling it. Upon seeing it, it looked angry as it tried to punch the worm Pokémon. Unfortunately, it missed, and Jumjoey fell forward. Annoyed, it stood up and tried punching again, but the Starva dug back underground, and the Jumjoey's fist just hit the dirt and caused dust to fly up off of it, making Jumjoey cough. Once the dust cleared, it suddenly sat down and pouted, looing disheartened again.
"Hey, there," came a voice, and Jumjoey looked up to see Ash and the others walking up to it. "Say, we couldn't help but notice what happened back there. It must be rough, getting exiled from your mob. But I think we can help you."
The Jumjoey, however, just looked angry again, and jumped up to kick Ash down. Fortunately, he was able to move out of the way in time, and Jumjoey just crashed into the ground.
"Oof," said Serena. "I can see why it was exiled."
The Jumjoey took offense to that comment, so it leapt up again to kick Serena, but Serena instead managed to catch the wriggling Pokémon in her hands.
"Yeah, I think you've got a lot of work ahead of you."
The Jumjoey struggled to get free, before Serena just set it down. However, it decided to try kicking her again, but she quickly moved to the side, and the Jumjoey landed face-first in the dirt.
"Hey, come on now, we want to help you," said Ash.
"You know, I think you need to practice moving a little faster with those kicks of yours," said Vernon. "Maybe if, instead of jumping, you just went straight for your target."
Annoyed, the Jumjoey jumped towards Vernon this time, but he dodged too. "C'mon, you gotta use your head."
The Jumjoey kept on trying the kick the group, again and again, but to no avail. Eventually, it got tired and had to stop and catch its breath.
That was when Ash decided to kneel down it its height and say, "C'mon, you're not giving up that easily, are you? I thought you'd be tougher than this."
Annoyed, the Jumjoey jumped up again, but this time, it moved straight towards Ash, and this time, the kick was able to connect, knocking Ash to the ground.
"Oof! Hey, you got me that time!" said As as he stood back up. The Jumjoey's eyes suddenly lit up as it realized this.
"What did I tell you?" said Vernon. "Use your head, and you can pull it off."
"You got lots of power in those kicks," said Ash. "But I think you need to practice speed and aiming. That way, they can't be dodged."
Serena knelt down to the Jumjoey and said, "What do you think? Can we help you get a little stronger?"
The Jumjoey looked around at all the encouraging faces it was getting, before finally, it gave a small grin and nodded.
"Great!" said Ash. "And I think I know a good sparring partner for you." He pulled out a PokéBall, and out of it came Wobbuffet.
"Wobbuffet!" said Wobbuffet, saluting.
"Okay, you guys, let's try to practice kicking for now," said Ash. "Jumjoey, you just jump and try to kick Wobbuffet, okay? He can protect himself with Counter. And Wobbuffet? I want you to try to dodge those kicks. Jumjoeys's gonna learn how to attack a little faster first."
"Wob!" Wobbuffet nodded. Rolling up its imaginary sleeves, the Jumjoey jumped up and tried kicking Wobbuffet, but it quickly dodged. Growling, the Jumjoey tried again, but Wobbuffet dodged again.
Their massive claws can shoot water like pistols. At a close enough distance, they can even shatter rock.
The Jumjoey made several attempts to kick down Wobbuffet, but it moved a little too fast for it. Even when it tried to avoid jumping, Wobbuffet kept out of its way. Eventually, the Jumjoey got tired and had to sit down on the ground.
"Okay, it's alright," said Ash. "We just need a way for you to move a little faster."
"Let's think," said RotomDex. "We all remember how tough Kai's Jumjoey was. So how did it manage to fight so well?"
"It relied a lot in its jumping ability," said Serena. "It jumped into the air to zero in on its target."
"But it needs to move fast enough to catch its target," said Vernon.
The Jumjoey stood up and looked at Wobbuffet. That's when the group's words gave it an idea. Jumping up and down, it circled around Wobbuffet. But it moved in totally random pattern, and Wobbuffet couldn't figure out where it was going to land. As it tried to figure this out, the Jumjoey managed to deliver a few kicks to Wobbuffet's big blue body.
"Hey, you did it!" said Ash, as the Jumjoey flexed its arm confidently.
"Now, we need to work on power," said Vernon. "Okay, Wobbuffet, we want you to stand there this time and use Counter to protect yourself. We want to see if Jumjoey can move you, okay?"
"Wobbuffet!" saluted Wobbuffet. The Jumjoey psyched itself up again, and delivered a big Double Kick to Wobbuffet, but the blue Pokémon did not budge. The Jumjoey tried once again, but was met with the same results.
"Maybe what you need is momentum on your side," said Vernon.
"Yeah! I bet if you could throw yourself forward with enough force, you push Wobbuffet back," said RotomDex.
"Wait! I have an idea! Jumjoey, why don't you try to push yourself off the ground? If your legs are powerful enough to make you jump, they should be able to propel you forward!" said Ash.
Jumjoey nodded and crouched on the ground, getting its feet into the right position, before it then launched itself forward, turning its legs to stretch forward. This time, Wobbuffet was pushed back. Not by much, but a little.
"Awesome," said Ash. "C'mon, let's keep trying that. I bet if you can move your feet fast enough, you could push Wobbuffet back even further."
Jumjoey crouched again, and jumped forward to unleash another kick, and another, and another. Eventually, it managed to angle its feet fast enough to knock Wobbuffet over onto its back.
"Alright, you did it!" cheered Serena.
"Wob!" Wobbuffet congratulated as it stood up.
"Now there's one other thing to worry about, dodging," said Vernon. "Now, we're going to help you use your jumping ability to dodge any attack."
"Pikachu, that's where you come in," said Ash. "I want you to use Iron Tail, see if you can hit Jumjoey. We'll see if he can dodge a close-range attack."
"Pika," Pikachu nodded before it jumped off of Ash's shoulder. Its tail turned metallic silver before it tried to hit Jumjoey with it. Several of the attacks ended up hitting, before Pikachu stopped and Jumjoey shook it off, before gaining a fierce look on its face, ready for more.
"Alright, Pikachu, again!" said Ash. Pikachu unleashed more Iron Tails, and though many hit at first, Jumjoey started to jump high, and then continue to jump higher. Soon enough, Pikachu was unable to hit it once.
"Great job," said Vernon. "Now, it's time to see how good you are at dodging long range attacks." He pulled out a PokéBall, and out of it came Floattery. "Floattery, I want you to try using Acid to splat Jumjoey, okay?"
"Float," Floattery nodded. As Jumjoey readied itself, Floattery shot some Acid at it, but Jumjoey was able to jump out of the way. Floattery kept shooting, but no matter how hard it tried, Jumjoey kept jumping fast enough to stay out of the way of the purple goop.
Floattery stopped, and that's when Ash said, "Awesome. But now comes the hard part. We're going to apply all of this in one single battle."
Standing opposite to each other, Pikachu and Jumjoey stared each other down, both ready for a tough battle. Ash yelled out, "Pikachu, use Quick Attack!"
"Pika, pika!" Pikachu raced forward, outlined in white, unfortunately moving too fast or Jumjoey to dodge. Jumjoey was knocked back, but quickly stood up.
"We're not holding back now! Quick Attack, again!" Pikachu raced forward, but despite its efforts to avoid it, Jumjoey was hit again. "Again!" Pikachu charged forward one last time, but this time, Jumjoey had an idea. It let itself fall backwards, before using its feet to lift Pikachu up in the air, sending it crashing.
"Whoa!" said Ash.
"Incredible! It's kind of like how Kai's Jumjoey fought!" said RotomDex.
"Okay, use Iron Tail!" said Ash. Pikachu's tail turned silver and swatted at Jumjoey, but Jumjoey kept jumping up and down to evade the attack. It bounced further away, and Ash called out, "Use Thunderbolt!" Pikachu shot a Thunderbolt out at Jumjoey but Jumjoey shot itself downward quickly, causing the attack to miss. As soon as it landed, it planted its feet in the ground and launched itself forward at Pikachu. It then angled its feet at the mouse Pokémon, bashing it back with a Double Kick.
"Pika, pi," Pikachu said, quickly standing up. Seeing Jumjoey standing before it confidently, Pikachu gave an impressed smirk.
"Guys," said Vernon. "I think he's ready."
It's Clauncher!
The Jumjoey mob was eating the grass around them, minding their own business. The Kangarumble was sitting off to the side, upset over having to exile its son. It just sat there, eyes closed, until it felt a hand on its shoulder. It looked over to face the Brawllaby from before, who tried to give it a reassuring look. "By, Brawllaby," it said, as if trying to say Kangarumble did the right thing. Kangarumble was silent for a while, but closed its eyes again and nodded.
Little did the mob know they were being watched. A small group of Pokémon watched from the bushes. They were looked like Tasmanian Devils, were a dark brown, had yellow markings along their backs, and had red pupils with sharp teeth. They carefully looked at the mob, trying to find a weak individual to pick off.
Suddenly, everyone heard a voice cry out. "Joey! Jumjoey!" They all looked over to see Jumjoey bouncing over, with a fierce determination in its eyes. The mob looked behind it to see Ash, Pikachu, Serena, Vernon, and RotomDex running after it.
Jumjoey landed before the Brawllaby, pointing its fists at it, and crying, "Jum, jum, Jumjoey!"
"Jumjoey wants another chance!" said Ash.
"It's been training really hard, and it's a lot tougher now," said Serena.
"You can't kick it out of the mob so easily!" said Vernon.
"Pika!" said Pikachu.
However, the Brawllaby shook its head and pointed, said "By, by, Brawllaby!" demanding that Jumjoey go away.
"Joey! Jum!" said Jumjoey. It jumped up and tried to kick Brawllaby, but the larger Pokémon expected this and dodged.
"Brawl, Brawllaby!" Brawllaby declared.
"I can't believe it!" said RotomDex. "Brawllaby won't even give Jumjoey a chance!"
"Brawl!" Brawllaby pointed again, telling Jumjoey to go. Jumjoey was feeling a little disheartened, before...
"Rumble!" Kangarumble suddenly stood up, planting its huge foot down by its kid. Brawllaby and Jumjoey looked at it surprised, but Kangarumble held its fists by it body and muttered, "Kanga, Kangarumble!"
"I don't believe it!" said RotomDex. "I think Kangarumble is challenging Jumjoey to a fight."
"So, if it wins, it gets to stay, right?" said Ash.
"Of course," said Vernon. "Which means it can't back down now."
Jumjoey stood there stunned, unsure what to think. But when it saw the determined expression in Kangarumble's eyes, it nodded, gaining a determined expression of its own.
Jumjoey and Kangarumble stood opposite to each other, staring the other down intently. Their fists trembled, their feet tapped on the ground, both Pokémon readying themselves.
The group stood off to the side, sitting on a log, but they held determined expressions as they watched the Pokémon. "C'mon, Jumjoey, you can do this!" said Ash.
"Don't give up no matter what!" said Serena.
"This is the moment you've waited for!" said Vernon.
Jumjoey decided to make the first move, launching itself forward, its feet right in front of it. However, its father did not move, and when Jumjoey got close Kangarumble used a huge Mach Punch to knock Jumjoey down.
"No!" said Serena.
Jumjoey quickly shook it off, and jumped up to kick Kangarumble again, but somehow, the larger Pokémon was fast enough to block all of these attacks with Mach Punch.
"Ugh, we should have known better. Kangrumble is the leader of the mob," said RotomDex. "Obviously, it's the most powerful fighter here."
"It's okay, it can still win this!" Ash insisted.
Jumjoey was knocked onto the ground again, kicking up a lot of dust. However, seeing all the dust gave Jumjoey an idea. It stomped on the ground to stir up more dust, causing it to cover the battlefield and blind Kangarumble.
"Hey, not bad!" said Vernon.
Kangarumble struggled to see, before Jumjoey succeeded in getting a kick in. However, at that moment, Kangarumble leapt high up into the sky, so high it saw everything below it as a tiny speck.
"Whoa! I never thought a Kangarumble could jump that high!" said Ash.
"It's those powerful hind legs," said RotomDex. "The muscle power in those things is astonishing!"
Kangarumble then forced itself back down, crashing into the ground with a powerful kick that created a giant crater around it, blowing away the dust, and sending Jumjoey flying off to the side.
"C'mon, Jumjoey! You gotta get up!" said Serena.
Jumjoey slowly stood up and looked its father in the eye again. Angry, it launched itself forward fast than it ever had before, moving practically as a fireball, and this time Kangarumble could not dodge it. It bashed Kangarumble back several feet, though the older Pokémon managed to land on its feet. Jumjoey had to take a moment to catch its breath, but that was when Kangarumble bashed it away with a powerful Double Kick.
Jumjoey tried standing up again, but Kangarumble hopped over and laid its giant foot on top of it. It stared at Jumjoey before sadly shaking its head. Jumjoey was shocked to see this, and unexpectedly, it shed some tears.
"No, Jumjoey!" said Ash.
"This can't end like this!" said Serena.
Kangarumble took its foot off of Jumjoey before sadly hopping away, leaving Jumjoey despondent. The group walked up to Jumjoey, and tried to comfort it.
"We're really sorry, Jumjoey," said Ash. "We thought for sure you had it."
"You did the best you could," said Serena. "I guess Kangarumble's just too good of a fighter."
Jumjoey didn't meet their eyes, instead looking at the ground sadly. Suddenly, it was snapped out of its despair by a loud cry.
Surrounding a small pair of Jumjoeys were the Pokémon from the bushes. They growled ferociously, baring their teeth, closing in on them. The Jumjoeys, too young to fight back, cowered in fear.
"What are those things?" said Vernon.
RotomDex did a scan and said, "Carsupial, the Ravenous Pokémon. A Ground Type. Carsupials are known for being willing to make a meal out of anything in the wild. Trainers often find it difficult to sate their huge and bizarre appetites."
Kangarumble hopped over to them, readying its fists and feet, getting ready to defend the youngsters. It prepared a Double Kick and tried to bash the Carsupials away, but while one was knocked away, the other bite onto Kangarumble's foot, clamping down tightly. Kangarumble tried to throw the Carsupial off, but to no avail. That was when it heard a small cry, and it turned in horror to see one of the young Jumjoeys having been cornered by the other Carsupial. It tried to hop over to help, but the Carsupial on its foot let go before jumping before it, growling and refusing to let it pass.
"We gotta do something!" said Serena.
"Right!" said Ash, who reached for a PokéBall on his belt. However, he then saw Jumjoey on the ground, clenching its fists and gritting its teeth.
"Wait a second," Ash realized, "you want to stop them, don't you?"
Jumjoey nodded, causing Ash to smirk. "Then what are you waiting for? Just remember what we taught you!"
Jumjoey positioned itself before ticketing itself forward, knocking the Carsupial attacking the youngster over with a Double Kick. The Carsupial shook it off and tried to bite Jumjoey, but Jumjoey kept hopping to stay out of its reach, before defeating it with a Mach Punch, sending it blasting off again!
"Joey! Jumjoey!" the younger Jumjoey cheered. The older Jumjoey looked over at it to smile, but then, it heard a growl, and turned to see the other Carsupial charging straight for the youngster, teeth bared. Shocked, the older Jumjoey suddenly leapt forward, causing the Carsupial to hit it instead.
Everyone gasped before they saw the injured Jumjoey laying on the ground. It weakly tried to get before staring at the angry Carsupial with fierce determination. Seeing this, Kangarumble was outraged, and it charged forward, feet outstretched. With a single Double Kick, the Carsupial was sent flying away.
"Whoa, that was incredible," said Ash, breathless. He and the others ran over to Jumjoey, who managed to stand up with help from Kangarumble. "Are you going to be okay, Jumjoey?" Ash asked. Jumjoey looked at Ah before smirking and pointing a fist in the air, showing it was okay."
"Heh, it's a resilient little guy, I'll give him that," said Serena.
"Rumble," said Kangarumble, causing Jumjoey to look its parent in the eye. "Rumble, ga, Kanga."
"I don't believe it!" said RotomDex. "I think Kangarumble is telling Jumjoey how proud it is of it!"
"It is?" said Serena.
"Yeah! Seeing Jumjoey rise to the challenge, not about fighting, but proving its determination to protect the mob at all costs, it says that's what it wants to see in a leader!"
"Kanga, Kangarumble," said Kangarumble.
"I think Jumjoey is being allowed to stay!" said RotomDex. "Kangarumble will continue to train it until it's finally ready to take over the role of leadership."
"That's great!" said Ash.
"Congrats, Jumjoey!" said Serena.
"Joey, Jumjoey!" said Jumjoey, hopping up and down in excitement.
"See you guys later!" waved Ash.
"Good luck!" said Vernon.
"So long!" said Serena.
"Kanga!" Kangarumble waved.
Jumjoey hopped over to where the group was, pumping its fists towards them playfully, cheering "Jumjoey, jum, jum!"
"Yeah, don't worry about it," said Ash. "We know you'll be a fearless leader someday!"
Even if it still has training to finish, Jumjoey has proven to have the determination and self-sacrifice necessary to be a good leader someday, and so has earned its place in the mob! More to come as the journey continues!
TO BE CONTINUED...