The battle did not happen the next day.
The damages to the city had been greater than what Watson had thought and it would take a longer time to fix it all. So for a week Ash and Co had remained in Mauville City, Ash training his Pokemon while May practised routines for her next contest. Max jumped between the two, either helping Ash with his training or May with her training.
Ash had also visited the Manectric Meadow once, releasing the ones he'd caught. He did not venture close to that place again, even if the Manectric were somewhat happy to have him around. Ash did not want to risk anything and cause an issue.
A week later Ash appeared at the Mauville City Gym for his challenge (Watson had called them through Max's PokeNav). The Gym was built like the inside of a power plant, electricians working on machines all around. This was partially true, the Gym was a sort of power substation. The power from the Power Plant came to the Gym and spread all across the city from there. Which was how Watson had been the first one to know when chaos broke out at the power plant.
The battlefield was situated out back, far from the main building but still close enough for Watson to rush should another problem come up. The Gym Leader was already waiting for Ash, grinning ear to ear.
"Hope you're ready to receive the biggest shock of your life!" Watson said with a booming laugh. "It'll be a two-on-two Pokemon battle. No switching allowed, and no healing during or between battles. The last Pokemon standing will be crowned the winner and its trainer the winner of this challenge. You'll get a badge if you win of course."
"And what if Ash loses but he's able to impress you?" Max asked.
"Ah, that rule" Watson waved his hand dismissively, "you gotta win for the badge, no way around it."
The boy looked satisfied, while Ash rolled his eyes.
Gym Leader and Challenger took their place on opposing ends of the battlefield. The trainer's platforms raised from the ground and Watson sent his first Pokemon out, the Electrode Ash had seen at the Power Plant. Ash sent his Zigzagoon out.
"I could have sworn you'd use your Grass types" Watson muttered before calling for a rollout.
Ash told Zigzagoon to dodge.
Zigzagoon got out of the way easily, and using its peculiar zigzag motion of movement kept dodging until Electrode stopped and lashed out with Thunderbolt. Zigzagoon immediately dug under the ground and burst out from under Electrode, sending it airborne. Zigzagoon used Pin Missile while Electrode was still airborne, before digging back down when the ball Pokemon fell back down. Zigzagoon burst from under Electrode again, but this time Electrode covered itself with electricity with Spark. Electrode flew up but the contact both damaged and paralyzed Zigzagoon. This time Zigzagoon could not use Pin Missile because of Paralysis. Electrode fell using Rollout this time and slammed hard enough into Zigzagoon to knock him out.
Ash called back his Zigzagoon while Watson boomed with laughter, but not in a mean or condescending way. Combusken came out next.
Electrode came forward with Rollout but Combusken sent it back with Double Kick, before launching a Flamethrower to keep it rolling back until it hit a wall. Electrode fired back with a Thunderbolt but Combusken dodged it with ease, following with a Flamethrower. Electrode took the brunt of the hit before shooting towards Combusken glowing white. Combusken put but a shield of fire around him using Fire Spin and Electrode collided against it and exploded. The wall of fire vanished and Electrode lay unconscious while Combusken remained unharmed.
Watson boomed with laughter again, but it was he who returned a fainted Pokemon this time.
"That trick with the Fire Spin was clever, kid" the man complimented, before sending his Magneton out.
Combusken hit Magneton immediately with Fire Spin and the Pokemon was engulfed by a tornado of fire. But a quick Shock Wave neutralized the tornado. Magneton used Thunderbolt and Combusken used Flamethrower. The two moves collided and caused an explosion. Combuasken burst through the smoke and landed a clean Double Kick, but was shot back with Sonicboom. Magneton followed it up with Tri-Attack, sending Combusken crashing into the ground. The fire type stood back up and launched a Flamethrower. Magneton used Tri-Attack and the two moves exploded on contact. Again Combusken burst through the smoke, this time his feet covered in flames from the Fire Spin Combusken was aiming at them. The first flaming Double Kick took care of the Sonicboom while the second one hit it in the face. Combusken followed it up with a close-range Flamethrower that slammed into Magneton and pinned it in place while Combusken rained fire down on the Pokemon.
Combusken stopped and jumped back, standing on his hands instead of his feet but looking ready to fight again.
Magneton was not. The Pokemon did not even get up.
The battle had been declared in Ash's favour and Ash earned his third Hoenn Gym Badge.
With the Gym Battle done, the group of three decided to leave Mauville for Fallarbour Town, the location of May's next Pokemon Contest. Just as the trio were heading to the Fiery Path, something slammed into Ash's head and knocked him out. When he came, Max and May were looking down on him.
"What happened?" the boy groaned.
"That" May pointed.
Ash looked up to see a blue Pokemon climbing a cliff. He pulled out his Pokedex.
"Bagon, the Rock Head Pokemon. Bagon has a dream of one day soaring in the sky. In doomed efforts to fly, this Pokémon hurls itself off cliffs. As a result of its dives, its head has grown tough and as hard as tempered steel."
As if on cue, Bagon jumped from the cliff again and slammed into a bounder, smashing it to pieces.
"He seems really determined" Max noted.
Ash watched the Pokemon try again, and again, and again. Each time it failed to fly but each time it got up and tried again. He looked at his Pokedex, pressing a few buttons before stopping.
"Salamence, the Dragon Pokemon, the final stage evolution of Bagon. Salamence came about as a result of a strong, long-held dream of growing wings. It is said that this powerful desire triggered a sudden mutation in this Pokémon's cells, causing it to sprout its magnificent wings."
Ash got up, steadying himself before he approached the Bagon, who had once more shattered a boulder.
"You want to be like this, right?" Ash asked, showing Bagon the entry for Salamence.
Immediately Bagon's eyes lit up as it stared at the image of Salamence. Ash pressed a button and Salamence's image changed to another.
"Shelgon, the endurance Pokemon, evolved form of Bagon. Inside Shelgon's armour-like shell, cells are in the midst of a transformation to create an entirely new body. This Pokémon's shell is extremely heavy, making its movements sluggish."
"To get to Salamence you need to evolve into Shelgon first. To do that you need to train harder."
Bagon looked determined and nodded fervently.
"I can help you with that" Ash put his Pokedex away and brought out a Pokeball. "I have a dream to become the most powerful Pokemon Master the world has ever seen! And for that dream, I need a strong and determined Pokemon like you. Join me Bagon. Together we can become strong. You can achieve your dream of soaring the skies and I can achieve my dream of becoming the most powerful Pokemon Master. We can help each other get there."
Bagon stared at Ash for a while, unmoving, unspeaking, before it gently bumped the Pokeball and was immediately sucked in. Three shakes later, Bagon was sent to Professor Oak's Laboratory.
Now the headache Ash was facing was which Pokemon to replace with Bagon…