Ash knocked on the door, and after a long pause a woman with orange hair opened it.
"Oh no, not again!" she said, taking several steps back. "You've already got my badge, why are you back here again?"
"Now that's a reputation," Garchomp declared, in tones of great personal satisfaction.
"I'm here to spectate," Cynthia clarified, and Gardenia heaved an enormous sigh of relief.
"Yeah, I'm the one who's challenging the gym!" Ash confirmed. "I've got one of my Sinnoh Pokémon and someone from Johto as my first two, then after that it depends on how many you're using!"
Gardenia looked like someone trying to recover after an extremely unexpected rollercoaster ride, and blinked a few times before rallying.
"Right," she said. "So you've got… okay. I'll be using… three Pokémon… and you'll have the same number available."
"Actually, I'm curious," Dawn admitted. "Does that mean Ash has to lock in which three Pokémon he's using before the battle? I've not seen many Gym battles."
Gardenia shook her head. "No, that's not required. In League battles the trainers often need to lock in their choice, but that's not generally necessary in Gym battles – they can use any of their six."
Ash used Confusion, writing down some Pokémon on a slip of paper, then folded it and gave it to Cynthia.
"I've got more than six Pokémon with me normally," Ash told both Dawn and Gardenia. "So I need to pick which six are my options… normally I'd do that before arriving, but I didn't know if I had to."
"That makes sense," Gardenia decided. "So, the arena is just through here – I'll introduce you to my assistant, Yoko, and then we can get started."
Just as Nando had said, the arena was full of plants. In fact, it was like a greenhouse, with whole trees spread around the indoor space, though the walls were reinforced instead of being glass.
"You've remodelled," Cynthia observed. "It's a pity, I liked the floral clock."
"The floral clock was nice, yeah," Gardenia agreed. "Problem was, it kept breaking down and saying the time was half past tulips. This is a bit less ambitious, but it's more practical."
She nodded to Yoko, and her assistant made a sharp gesture.
So did Yoko's Nuzleaf.
"This battle has both sides having up to three Pokémon!" she said. "Get your first Pokémon ready!"
Gardenia held up a Pokéball, and Ash floated one up in front of him.
"Begin," Yoko added, and Ash sent out Starly in a flash of white.
Gardenia opened with a Turtwig, and Dawn sent out her own Turtwig so he could watch.
"Leech Seed!" the Gym Leader commanded.
"Steel Wing, slice out of it!" Ash replied, and Starly's wings shimmered with silver light. The Leech Seed came at him, but he did a snap-roll, and the tendrils that snaked out of the Leech Seed fell apart in a whoosh-snap of falling plant parts.
"So that's the Sinnoh Pokémon," Gardenia said, mostly to herself. "Jump and Tackle!"
Turtwig ran along for a moment, then jumped into the air, and intercepted Starly despite the Flying-type being several feet up and moving fast. The two Pokémon collided with a painful thump, and Gardenia snapped out another order.
"Bite!" she said.
"Steel Wing!" Ash called.
Turtwig bit onto Starly's wing, and only the Steel Wing reduced some of the damage. Turtwig's weight did pull down hard on Starly, though, tugging the Flying-type off course as he tried to recover and resulting in a painful crash that tumbled both Pokémon across the floor.
"Back up in the air!" Ash told Starly, and the Flying-type shook himself out before rising into the air again in a whirr of wings. "And have a Gust ready to boost yourself!"
"Got it!" Starly replied, wings beating faster, and a half-formed air current began whirling under his wings.
Gardenia's Turtwig had taken a moment to recover from the landing herself, and she shook herself out before looking to Gardenia for instructions.
"Sunny Day!" Gardenia instructed, and Turtwig's seedling glowed. So did the sun overhead, and Koraidon began bouncing on her paws a bit.
"It's funny being in strong sunlight when I didn't do it," she said.
"I guess it would be," Latias agreed.
Turtwig looked bouncier as well, full of energy flowing through her, and Gardenia gestured. "Synthesis!"
"Come in for an attack!" Ash called, looking at where Starly was – circling in front of Turtwig. "Attack from behind, away from her jaws!"
Starly rolled, banking around to get into the right position, then Gardenia pre-empted him. "Leaf Storm!"
"Aerial Ace!" Ash countered, and Starly did a barrel roll. He banked and pulled up at the same time, making a big spiral around where he'd been going to start with, and just about managed to evade Turtwig's Leaf Storm.
"Not bad," Cynthia noted.
"Now, Gust!" Ash called, and Starly released the Gust that had been whirling under his wings. It hit Turtwig from behind, knocking her forwards and rolling over in the grass, then she slid to a halt with a spray of grass fragments out in front of her.
"Ooh, we might need to try that," Dawn's Turtwig said. "That looked cool."
"Tackle!" Gardenia commanded, and her Turtwig launched herself upwards again to intercept Starly. "Leech Seed!"
This time Starly didn't have time to react before the seed spread vines over him, wrapping up his wings and capturing him, and he fell to the ground painfully as Turtwig landed a little way away.
"Come on, Starly!" Ash said. "Steel Wing – and Aerial Ace! Just a bit more, Turtwig's tired too!"
Starly's wings glittered as he used Steel Wing and tried his best to cut his way out, but the Leech Seed was draining his strength too fast.
"Quick Attack!" Ash added.
Starly glowed, then there was a sharp crack and the Leech Seed tendrils exploded outwards. He took off in a blur of light, then whirled in mid-air – revealing Staravia, newly evolved and showing no signs of exhaustion.
"Turtwig-" Gardenia began.
"Aerial Ace!" Ash called, and Staravia darted down in a spiralling dive before hitting Turtwig squarely in the side. The impact hit hard, but Turtwig used Bite in response and held on to Staravia's wing.
"Snap roll!" Ash said. "And Steel Wing – she can't hold on so well if it's smooth!"
"How is-" Gardenia said, then realized that Staravia was stronger and heavier than Starly had been, so he could actually compensate for Turtwig's weight without being pulled into a crash.
Instead, when he used Steel Wing and did a roll, the forces involved flung Turtwig off, and the Grass-type crashed into the ground with a thud that left a crater.
And an unconscious Turtwig.
"Turtwig is unable to battle!" Yoko declared.
Gardenia recalled Turtwig, switching her out for a Cherrim, and as the Cherrim bloomed into a smiling-faced flower Ash checked on Staravia.
"Are you okay to keep going?" he asked. "I could switch you out."
"I'll be fine," Staravia assured him, taking off and hovering. "I'm a Flying type and this is the Grass gym!"
"Yeah, it doesn't always work like that, either way around," Pikachu advised.
"Ready?" Yoko asked. "Resume!"
"Solarbeam!" Gardenia instructed, and Cherrim's smile became even brighter.
Staravia jinked out of the way, and Ash called for Steel Wing – just in time, as Cherrim's happy Solarbeam tracked unerringly across to hit Staravia and scatter dazzling Solarbeam-light all over the gym.
"Ack!" Dawn yelped, throwing up her arm, then Cynthia passed her a pair of sunglasses. "Oh – thanks!"
Staravia whirled, and Ash pointed. "Aerial Ace!"
The Flying-type flew around in a circle, aiming for Cherrim, then Gardenia called for Flash.
It turned out that a sun-powered Cherrim could be extremely bright, and Staravia flinched from dazzle – which was a bad thing to do when coming in on an attack run.
He crashed into the ground, then Cherrim smiled brightly and used Weather Ball.
"Ouch," Latias said, faintly.
"Yeah, I'm recalling Staravia," Ash decided. "Even if he's still up after that, I don't think he wants to be any more."
"Hmm," Cynthia mused. "Have you been studying my style?"
"I've been studying your Roserade, if that counts!" Gardenia replied. "You've really done a lot of amazing things with her."
Ash returned Staravia, then switched to a different Pokéball and sent Quilava out.
"Oh, this is nice," Quilava said, stretching and rolling his neck. "Was this you, Koraidon?"
"No, it was the Gym Leader!" Koraidon told him.
"If both trainers are ready to resume?" Yoko asked, and got a pair of nods. "Then – begin!"
"Flash!"
"Extremespeed!" Ash called, and Quilava burst into motion. He went right past Cherrim, avoiding the flashbulb-flare of bright light, and whirled before using Flamethrower.
Flames pulsed over Cherrim, but the cheerful smile was still resolutely in place once the Flamethrower had ended.
Quilava looked faintly puzzled. "Did I do that right?"
"Rollout!" Gardenia called, and Cherrim began using Rollout.
"Ulp!" Quilava added, turning to run away.
"Flame Wheel!" Ash instructed. "Build up some speed of your own – now, Swift!"
Quilava fired out a dozen Swift stars, and they all came crashing down on the smiling, rolling Cherrim. They didn't slow the Grass-type down, though, and Ash got out his Pokédex to check something.
"Uh," he said. "Oh, I get it! Quilava, get in close – hit with your Flame Wheel!"
Ash's Fire-type turned in a tight corner, then collided with Cherrim head-on in a Rollout-versus-Flame-Wheel clash. The impact was loud and stunning, prompting a bang that echoed through the room, and when it cleared both Pokémon were still on their feet.
Or roots.
"Morning Sun!" Gardenia instructed. "Petal Blizzard!"
Quilava began dodging away from the high-speed clouds of petals, setting some of them on fire instead, and Ash frowned.
Then glanced at Turtwig.
"Swift!" he called. "And set the Swift stars on fire – use them to cut through! Then use Flame Wheel!"
Quilava did just that, boring in closer, and Gardenia clapped her hands.
"Hyper Beam!" she called.
Quilava's flaming Swift attacks hit first, producing a cloud of smoke which hid both Pokémon as he sped in for a collision, then there was an explosion and a bright beam of white light that hit the Gym wall and blew a crater in it.
Cynthia frowned. "That looked like a miss."
"Huh?" Ash asked, then the smoke cleared.
Cherrim was out for the count, and Ash's Quilava wasn't a Quilava any more.
He looked… different.
Cynthia made a sort of high pitched noise.
Typhlosion looked almost like a normal Typhlosion, at first, but the flames around the back of his neck weren't orange and yellow. Instead they were red and purple, and there were little orbs of purple-red flame burning on the front of his neck as well.
"Huh," he said, turning to inspect himself. "That seems new."
"I really want to find out what the exact conditions were that led to that," Cynthia said, fervently. "But that explains the Hyper Beam. It wasn't a miss, it just went right through."
Zorua held up his paw. "Ghost buddies."
Ash scanned Typhlosion with his Pokédex, which gave the same alert about unusual Pokémon as with Zorua, and once that was done Typhlosion said he'd like to stay out in battle himself, to get a bit of a feel for what he could do, and Ash nodded to confirm that.
Then translated so that it was clear what he was nodding agreement to.
Gardenia took out her third Pokéball, expanded it, then sent out a Roserade – a decision that immediately changed Cynthia's focus, away from specifically on Typhlosion to both Pokémon.
"Now this should be interesting," she said. "It's always good to study a new Pokémon by seeing how they do against a Pokémon you know well."
"I'm not sure that's always good," Garchomp frowned. "What about if you'd tested Jangmo-o out against me?"
"I guess that depends who's attacking, right?" Koraidon checked.
"Yeah, fair," Garchomp agreed.
"Ready?" Yoko asked both trainers and their Pokémon, and got affirmative responses. "Then – begin!"
"Toxic!" Gardenia said.
"Flamethrower!" Ash countered, and Typhlosion spat out a jet of purplish-red flames which intercepted the Toxic glob in mid-air and made it explode.
Then the Fire-type looked curious. "I wonder if that does something different?"
"Power Whip," Gardenia instructed.
Six vines whipped out from Roserade's flowers, reaching for Typhlosion, and Ash pointed right with a hoof. "Dodge, Extremespeed!"
Typhlosion rocketed to the side, passing right through a tree before slowing down, and tilted his head. "Wow, that was weird!"
"Typhlosion, focus," Ash warned. "Flame Wheel!"
A whirl of purple and red flames engulfed the Fire-type, and he charged in to hit Roserade. The impact knocked Roserade over before she picked herself up again.
"Magical Leaf," Gardenia instructed. "Poison Sting."
"Watch out for the poison attacks, Typhlosion!" Ash warned. "You're stronger against them now but you can still be poisoned!"
"Got it!" Typhlosion called, then used Flamethrower. Roserade countered the attack by sweeping her flowers across, firing out a Sludge Bomb from each, then Gardenia called for a Petal Blizzard and the Grass-type vanished inside a red-and-blue swirl of flower petals.
Ash frowned, thinking. Roserade wasn't attacking with it, so she must be doing something else…
"Now!" Gardenia said.
"Look out!" Ash called.
It was a bit late, though, as Typhlosion got hit by a pair of Shadow Ball attacks. A third one came as he tried to recover, then Zorua jumped from Koraidon's head and ran across Latias to get to Ash.
"Hide," he said, pointing down, and Ash glanced over at the Ghost-type – then realized.
"Typhlosion, go underground!" he called. "That way she can't aim – give me a moment to think!"
Gardenia smirked. "That goes for me, too," she said, as Typhlosion phased into the ground. "Synthesis, Roserade!"
Green energy flowed over Roserade, healing some of the damage from earlier in the battle. Then Gardenia pointed. "Rain Dance!"
"You've made her a very versatile Pokémon," Cynthia said, as the sunlight faded to be replaced by rain clouds.
"That's what I was aiming for," Gardenia replied.
Ash frowned. "I bet that Roserade knows Weather Ball…"
"Challenger, your Pokémon will need to return to the battlefield soon," Yoko warned.
"...got it!" Ash realized. "Typhlosion – come back up to the surface, and use Will-o-Wisp!"
"Look out, Roserade!" Gardenia said. "Block with Magical Leaf!"
Roserade did her best, but she didn't have a good idea where Typhlosion was going to come up until the Ghost-type actually did. He sprang out of the ground, hurling an orb of purplish flame, and Roserade's attempt to block with Magical Leaves came too late.
"Now, Infernal Parade!" Ash ordered.
He'd spotted both the new moves Typhlosion had picked up back when the scan had happened, and while the rain weakened Fire-type moves… it didn't affect Ghost ones.
"That was really tiring," Typhlosion admitted, once the battle was over and the rain had stopped. "Not the being underground bit, but the whole… you know, in general."
"You did really well, Typhlosion," Ash assured him. "We'll make sure you get some practice with your new Type soon, okay?"
"That would be nice."
Cynthia frowned. "Hmm… now, do I start a new notebook for that or not?"
Garchomp sniggered.
"And you've definitely earned the Forest Badge," Gardenia said, then stopped as she saw Cynthia pull out one of her old notebooks. "What now?"
"I'm probably about to get the Grass type," Ash said, taking the Badge, and his ring went bright green while his gems turned yellow.
Pikachu got the Pokédex. "Ready."
"The powers of Plates are shared among Pokémon," Ash said. "That one mentioned the Plates too…"
"Thirteen down, five to go," Latias counted. "I wonder what happens when you get them all?"
AN:
I'm sure anyone who played Gen 4 and then Gen 5 will be able to sympathize with Gardenia.