"Ash, I'm sorry you didn't get your badge yesterday." Brock said.
"I'm sensing a but, and I'm guessing it's that you two have to get going back to the Orange Islands." Ash said, deep in thought.
"Are you okay Ash?" Misty asked.
"Just deep in thought, Jasmine's Pokemon were so heavy and armored, I need to rethink my entire strategy from yesterday." Ash said, before getting up. "It was great to see the two of you again. And Misty next time we meet up I want a rematch and I'll win for sure."
"I'm looking forward to it already." Misty taunted, as the two friends said goodbye.
"Those three have a lot of history together, its actually a little daunting." Molly said, watching from afar.
"They're old friends, I guess it was nice Ash got to meet up with them even if it was only for this long." Casey said.
A bit later after Misty and Brock had left, heading back to the Orange Archipelago, Ash was prepping himself and his Pokemon for some training.
"Ash, where are you planning on going to train?" Molly asked.
"Yeah, we can help if you need." Casey said.
"Thanks, but I need to be able to stand against those Steel Type attacks, and to do that, we need to train our endurance." Ash admitted. "So I'm going to work on us withstanding heavy forces headfirst."
"Why do I have a bad feeling about that." Molly sighed, watching Ash and Pikachu leave the Pokemon center.
"Should we follow him?" Casey asked.
"Let's just let him be, us trying to stop him or tell him no will do nothing, he'll just want to do it more." Molly said knowing her cousin all too well.
At the beach to the west of Olivine City
"Alright, here comes another one!" Ash said, bracing himself as a wave came crashing onto the beach, slamming into him and his Pokemon.
"Scyther!"
"Espe!"
"Croco!"
Half of Ash's team was withstanding the waves just fine, meanwhile Pikachu's smaller size made it harder for him, and Houndoom and Sudowoodo were not big fans of the water for obvious reasons.
"When I said tough as steel, you do know that standing up against the waves of the ocean isn't the way to do it." Jasmine commented, walking over to Ash and his soaking wet Pokemon.
"Jasmine, what are you doing here?!" Ash asked in shock.
"I was told there was a trainer and his Pokemon that were attempting to drown themselves out here. I'm guessing that would be you?" Jasmine commented with a light laugh.
"I'm just trying to find a way to stand up to your Pokemon, I feel if we could at least hold our ground, I might have a chance to win next time." Ash admitted.
"Well, since you did help me with getting the medicine for Amphy, I'll take you to my training grounds, so you can learn how to hold up against our heavy weights and heavy hitters." Jasmine offered.
"Really, that would be great!" Ash exclaimed. "Let's go."
In a training studio under the gym
"Whoah, this place is huge!" Ash said in shock.
"Of course, how else am I supposed to train a Pokemon as large as my Steelix." Jasmine commented.
"So where are we starting? Rolling balls of doom, spike walls, disaster run?" Ash asked excitedly.
"Let's just start with the Iron Wall." Jasmine said, leading Ash over to a steel wall on tracks. "Send out who you want to help with this."
"Alright, come on out Sudowoodo!" Ash exclaimed, sending out the rock type.
"Sudo Woodo!" Sudowoodo cheered, shaking his branches.
"Alright, ready, begin!" Jasmine said, flipping a switch as the wall started moving forward. "Don't let it cross that red line for as long as you can."
"Alright, let's go!" Ash said, pushing against the wall with Sudowoodo and Pikachu.
"Hmm, interesting, I never thought he'd join in with his Pokemon." Jasmine mused to herself, watching the trio push against the moving wall.
"Su Do!" Sudowoodo grunted, pushing to his limits to keep the wall from moving. "Woodo!"
The wall slammed forward, launching the trio back into a padded wall.
"How, how'd we do?" Ash asked in a slightly dazed state.
"Not bad, not great, but not bad for the sizes of you and Sudowoodo." Jasmine said. "Let's try something else."
Jasmine helped Ash up, taking him over to another area with targets a distance off with rubber plates between them and the trainers.
"So what's this one for?" Ash asked.
"This is where I trained Magneton's Zap Cannon. The rubber mats absorb the electricity if you miss, making it imperative your aim is true." Jasmine explained. "Also we're in a metal room, so if you miss, you only hit rubber rather than zapping everyone down here."
"How about it Pikachu, want to try for a bit?" Ash asked.
"Pika!" Pikachu exclaimed, hopping onto the table.
"Magneton." Jasmine's Magneton said, floating over.
Both electric types sent out the massive electrical attacks, with Magnetons easily going through all the mats while Pikachu was stopped at the third.
"Wow, that is harder than it looks." Ash admitted.
"I never said this was supposed to be easy." Jasmine reminded.
"Well we're not giving up! Pikachu use Zap Cannon again!"
Pikachu fired off another Zap Cannon, this time wanting to prove himself as he shot through all five mat's holes, hitting the target dead center.
"Well at least we know it can hit the second time." Jasmine said.
"Pikachu again!" Ash called out.
"Wait what?" Jasmine said in confusion as Ash's eyes began to glow red.
Pikachu released another bolt of electricity, piercing through the holes and zapping the target a second time in a row.
"Again!" Ash called out as he and Pikachu were now in sync.
Pikachu sent a third bolt straight through, breaking the target from the impact.
"Ash, I think that's enough." Jasmine said with concern.
"Sorry, I, I guess we were just in the zone." Ash apologized.
"You should be apologizing to Pikachu for pushing him like that." Jasmine scolded.
"Pi?" Pikachu asked, tilting his head and seeming perfectly fine.
"Or he's just fine I guess." Jasmine said in surprise. "Come on there's one more area where you can train with what Pokemon you have." Jasmine said, leading Ash to a more open area with various hoops and targets hung in the air..
"Let me guess, this is where you trained Scizor?" Ash asked.
"Smart." Jasmine said, sending out her Scizor. "The goal is simple, the rings are just big enough for a Scyther or Scizor to fit through but between each ring is a target to strike. This tests how strong your Pokemon can be while also staying quick on their feet. And I'll make you a deal, if you can beat Scizor's record, I'll help Scyther evolve."
"Alright Scyther, let's show them what we can do, up into the sky!" Ash called out.
Scyther took off next to Scizor, both flying through sets of rings while striking targets as they went, the two big types neck and neck through the race until Scyther managed to zoom through a few rings giving them a major lead winning the race.
"Impressive, well a deals a deal." Jasmine said. "Come on we'll need to go to the Pokemon Center to use their trade station."
"How about it Scyther, you outclassed a Scizor, ready to join their ranks?" Ash asked.
"Scyther!" Scyther cried, slashing their blades together.
At the Pokemon center
"Alright Scyther had the metal coat so now when we trade back, she should evolve into a Scizor. Are you ready Ash?"
"Ready." Ash said, placing the Pokemon he'd been traded back on the scanner, moments later the Park Ball taking its place. "Alright come on out Scizor!"
The Park Ball opened showing Scyther still standing there, no Metal Coat in sight.
"Wait, did we do something wrong?" Ash asked.
"No, I made sure of it, I followed all the steps I took when getting my Scyther to evolve." Jasmine said.
"Then what caused it to not happen this time? And where did the Metal Coat go?" Ash wondered curiously.