A Tauros was charging towards an old man.
Ash sent out his Scizor, who gets in between the Old Man and the Tauros, before slamming a Metal Claw on the Pokemon's head. Tauros' eyes rolled back before it fell over. The Tauros' trainer rushes over then, apologizing furiously to Ash and the Old Man before rushing away with his Pokemon safe in its Poke Ball.
"You have trained your Pokemon well" the Old Man complimented, sharp eyes taking in both Ash and his Acizor. "Come with me, I need your assistance."
The Old Man began to walk. Ash and Brock shared a look before shrugging and following the Old Man.
The Old Man introduced himself as Kenzo and he'd led them to his fighting Dojo. The man invited them inside and the duo were met with a girl and a weird Pokemon dancing.
"Hitmontop, the Handstand Pokemon. Hitmontop spins on its head at high speeds, all the while delivering kicks. This technique is a remarkable mix of both offence and defence at the same time. The Pokémon travels faster spinning than it does walking."
"Enough with your useless dancing" Kenzo barked.
The girl stopped her dancing and turned her music off.
"It's not useless, grandfather, it's training" The girl smiled before her eyes fell on Ash and Brock. "New students?"
"No. Ash here will be the new Shihan of this dojo" Kenzo declared much to the shock of both Ash and the girl.
"Grandfather you can't do this" the girl hissed. "The dojo is rightfully mine!"
"Rightfully? You don't even train your Pokemon! Dancing all day and wasting its potential. You don't deserve the dojo. Ash on the other hand is a strong trainer and deserves the dojo."
"But I don't want it!" Ash declared, but neither man nor girl heard him.
The girl enraged challenged Ash to a battle, and Kenzo agreed it would be a good idea to show how flawed his granddaughter was.
Ash refused, knowing full well what a victory here would mean.
Before the conversation could move forward, a new face made itself known.
"Who's the Shihan of this Dojo?" the newcomer asked.
"That would be me" Kenzo stepped forward.
The young man lowered his head in greeting. "My name is Shiro and I wish to challenge you to a battle. I wish to earn enough respect to open my own dojo. I have defeated eleven dojos before and wish to defeat you for my twelfth."
Kenzo looked intrigued.
"Very well."
Kenzo invited the man inside and led him and the rest to the battlefield. Shiro sent out his Hitmonlee and Kenzo sent out a Machoke. But the moment Machoke comes out, both Machoke and Kenzo experience a back spasm.
"Grandfather!" the girl rushes over to her grandfather, "You are in no condition to battle. Allow me to swap in for you."
"And have you tarnish the pride of this dojo with your ballet?" Kenzo scoffed. But he winced again as another spasm rocked through him.
"Grandfather please!" the girl begged.
Having little choice the man agreed.
"My name is Chigusa" the girl declared, standing where her grandfather stood. "I will be filling in for my grandfather."
Shiro shrugged.
The battle began with Hitmontop on the attack with Rolling Kick. But Hitmonlee blocks all of Himontop's attacks, even the Rapid Spin and Triple Kick it followed up with. Hitmonlee then goes on the attack with a Double Kick followed by a Jump Kick and a High Jump Kick. Hitmonlee finished the battle with another Double Kick.
Chigusa fell to her knees in shock while Kenzo stared curiously.
"Shiro, I would like to have a word with you" Kenzo stated.
Ash and Brock left a probably broken family. Kenzo named Shiro the new Shihan once the boy agreed and Chigusa, insulted and defeated left the dojo.
"Do you think we should have helped them?" Ash asked.
"I don't see what we could have done" Brock shrugged. "Kenzo is a man of his beliefs and I don't think we could have changed that."
"I guess" Ash nodded.
It had been a while since the incident at the dojo and the journey was somewhat fruitful. Ash and Brock met a man who prepared medicine from Shuckle, a Pokemon Brock realized he captured at the Bug Catching Competition. Brock learns how exactly the medicine is prepared before moving on. In a nearby town, they run into Gary but nothing of note happens between Ash and his rival. They even run into a trainer who has a hard time controlling his Yanma whom Ash helps. There was also a local Grass-type Pokemon tournament that Ash took part in with his Chikorita and went on to win, Chikorita learning Solarbeam in the process.
The Duo finally reached Ecruteak City after all that.
Nurse Joy at the Pokemon Center informed Ash that since Morty was a Ghost Type Gym Leader, Ash should rely on Normal type Pokemon that can land hits on the ghosts. Ash took the advice to heart, before checking his Pokedex to come up with a strategy by studying Ghost-type Pokemons on it. It was a stroke of luck that he had one of his own that he had the information at hand.
The duo then headed to the Gym after Ash had swapped the Pokemon he wanted into his team.
The Ecruteak City Gym lived up to its Ghostly reputation, a creepy building that would scare the life out of people. Ash and Brock head in and immediately the Gym escorts them to the battlefield. The Gym Leader Morty was waiting for Ash, talking to things Ash couldn't see.
"It will be a two-on-two battle with no switching. The last one standing wins" the guide declared, before standing to referee the match.
Morty sent his Pokemon first, pointing to the battlefield where the Pokemon appeared from thin air.
"Misdreavus, the Screech Pokemon. Misdreavus frightens people with a creepy, sobbing cry. The Pokémon apparently uses its red spheres to absorb the fearful feelings of foes and turn them into nutrition."
Ash sent his Noctowl out. Ash called for Foresight and Misdreavus' body became tangible. Ash followed up with Tackle but Misdreavus dodged, using Psybeam right after. Noctowl dodged and used confusion, pushing Misdreavus back before hitting it with a tackle. Morty called for Confuse Ray but Noctowl dodged the ray easily before hitting with another Tackle. Misdreavus used Perish Song but nothing seemed to happen. Ash called for Confusion and followed with a Tackle after dodging another Psybeam. The Tackle knocked Misdreavus out and gave Ash the first round.
Morty said nothing and called his Misdreavus back before sending a Gengar out.
Noctowl used Foresight and immediately fell out of the air knocked out, much to Ash's surprise.
"Perish Song has a delayed effect" Morty informed Ash as he called Noctowl back.
Disappointed, Ash complimented his Noctowl before sending out his next Pokemon, Gengar.
Morty's eyes sparked at that.
"You have a Gengar?" he asked, the mellow tone he'd been speaking with suddenly lively.
"One of my oldest partners" Ash grinned, Ash's Gengar sticking her tongue out.
Morty called for Hypnosis but Ash's Gengar dived into the shadows to dodge. The Gym Leader clicked his tongue in distaste. If not for the Foresight his Gengar would be doing the same.
Ash's Genger sprung up behind Morty's and lashed out with a blob of darkness that sent Morty's Gengar crashing into the ground, before sinking back into the shadows.
"Shadow Ball… You've trained your Gengar well" Morty complimented.
Ash smiled awkwardly. He didn't even know Gengar could do that.
Ash's Gengar sprung up again and this time used Hypnosis and Dream Eater. Morty's Gengar woke up quickly and lashed out with a Shadow Ball of its own. Ash's Gengar rolled back in the air before she stopped herself and used Psychic to stop Morty's Gengar's movements. She proceeded to slam Gengar all around the field before firing a Shadow Ball at it while still holding it in place with a Psychic.
The Shadow Ball hit home and Morty's Gengar went flying back and slammed into the far wall.
The Pokemon had passed out.
Ash won the round and the battle.