Ash and Serena got up early the morning of their battles against Roxanne. so that they can train their chosen Pokémon some more.
They decided to have two sparing battles to have their Pokémon warmed up, but they wouldn't push them to much so they won't end up tired for the battles.
The pairings for the battles were Ralts against Duskull, and Mudkip against Treecko.
The winners were not decided in either battle, but all four Pokémon were able to learn the moves they were trying to learn, and have perfected those which they've learned a while ago.
At about quarter to 10 in the morning, the two of them, along with May and Max who were watching them train, went to the Pokémon Center Cafeteria, and had breakfast, after which, all four went to the gym for the battles.
XXX
Once all four reached the Rustboro Gym, and entered inside, they saw that the gym is very spacious, and has several rows of bleachers around the rock field, which had a bunch of boulders of different sizes.
The gang also saw some people working on fixing the field.
"This field is perfect for a Rock Type Pokémon," Serena commented. "I honestly couldn't have made it better no matter how hard I tried."
"I agree." Ash said, and then they were approached by one of the man who were working on fixing the battle field.
"Hallo there," the man said. "I'm assuming you are Ash and Serena, here for the gym battle."
"Yes, that's right," Ash confirmed, and then the man turned around and called for his teacher, which was revealed to be Roxanne, who was standing on the bleachers.
"Welcome to my gym, everyone," Roxanne said to the gang. "I must say, it's an honor for me to have such high profile challengers as the two of you, Ash, Serena."
"We are also honored to have one of the best graduates from the Pokémon Academy as our opponent, Roxanne," Serena said back, and Ash nodded in agreement.
One of the people in the gym called Roxanne and informed her that everything is ready, and when asked about them, Roxanne said that all the people who work in the gym are her students in the Academy, and they work in the gym as interns, to gain experience.
"Hey, Ash, Serena, you two wouldn't mind if I take videos of our battles today, would you?" Roxanne asked.
"Its fine, I guess," Serena asked, though she was confused as to why would Roxanne want to take video of gym battles.
She didn't have to ask, since Roxanne explained. "I like to take videos of the gym battles and then show them in my class. I think that by watching the battles between experienced trainers, my students can learn a lot."
XXX
Few moments later, Roxanne and Serena were on their positions on the battlefield, and the referee is announcing the match.
"The battle between the Gym leader, Roxanne, and the challenger, Serena, from Vaniville Town, will now begin," the referee started to say! "This will be an elimination match, with each trainer using two Pokémon. Only the challenger is allowed to substitute Pokémon during the match!"
As soon as the referee finished his explanation, Roxanne released her first Pokémon. "Geodude, I chose you!" Roxanne said.
"So, Roxanne is starting with Geodude," Ash commented from his place on the bleachers, with Max and May next to him. "I was kind of expecting a Hoenn native Pokémon."
"Maybe her second Pokémon will be Hoenn native." May said, and Ash agreed, and then they watched the battle start after Serena chose Ralts as her first Pokémon."
"Begin!" The referee called.
"Ralts, start this with Psybeam!" Serena called her first move, making her Pokémon fire a multicolored beam from his eyes, which then went at Geodude.
"Geodude, Defense Curl!" Roxanne countered, and her Pokémon pulled its arms around itself and curled into a ball, so when the Psybeam hit it, it didn't do any damage, but raised its defense.
"Ok, that could have gone better," Serena sighed, and then heard Roxanne call out, Rollout, and she then saw Geodude curl itself into a ball, and started rolling at incredible speed toward Ralts.
"Teleport, Ralts," Serena called quickly, and in an instant her Pokémon disappeared from where he was, making Geodude pass through open space, before it uncurled back and stood on the ground looking around. "Now, Growl!" Serena called, and as soon as she did, Ralts appeared behind Geodude, opened his mouth and let out a loud cry, that released white shockwaves from his mouth, which then hit Geodude, making it calm down, as it got its attack power dropped down.
"Oh no," Roxanne said, while Serena smiled.
"Ralts, use Psybeam." Serena called out, hoping that this time her attack will work.
She was wrong, because Roxanne called out Defense Curl again, and Geodude saved itself for the second time.
"Damn it," Serena mumbled to herself, not wanting to be loud since there are cameras there filming the battle which will be later watched by little kids.
"Rock Throw, Geodude," Roxanne called her next attack!
Geodude punched the ground, making several rocks fly at Ralts.
"Protect!" Serena said, and Ralts created a green, ball-like barrier which surrounded him completely saving him from the rocks which were bouncing from the barrier.
"I thought I had you there for a moment," Roxanne sighed, and Serena smiled.
"It won't be that easy," Serena said, and then continued with her next move. "Ralts, use Hypnosis!"
When Serena said her move, Roxanne's eyes widened, as she then watched as Ralts looked at Geodude, and light blue silhouettes of his eyes shoot and hit Geodude straight up, before Geodude and Roxanne could do something. Once it was hit by the attack, Geodude fell on the ground, asleep.
"Finish it with Psybeam!" Serena called her final move in this round, and Ralts released another multicolored beam from his eyes, which then hit Geodude who couldn't dodge nor defend itself.
Once the attack hit, there was a small explosion, which sent Geodude backwards toward Roxanne, and once it fell at her feet, she saw Geodude has passed out.
"Geodude is unable to continue," the referee called! "The winner of round one is the challenger, Serena!"
"Wow, Serena really managed to pull through, and won the round even though she had problems with Geodude's Defense Curl," Max commented after he saw Serena win round one.
"Serena is very good trainer and is never to be underestimated," Ash said, while smiling. "And she also caught Roxanne of guard, as she wasn't expecting that Hypnosis."
Max nodded, and then the two of them and May continued to watch the next round, for which Roxanne released Nosepass, a Hoenn native, Rock Type Pokémon.
"Come on out, Mudkip," Serena called her second Pokémon after she decided to switch her Ralts and let him rest for later. That is, if there is later, because if Mudkip defeats Nosepass, Serena would have won the battle.
"Begin!" The referee started the second round.
"Mudkip, use Water Gun!" Serena started first, and called her first move, and Mudkip fired a spiral of water from his mouth at Nosepass.
"Nosepass, use Rock Tomb!" Roxanne countered, and her Pokémon jumped into the air, effectively dodging the Water Gun which passed beneath it, and then Nosepass landed back on the ground, which caused giant rocks to protrude from the ground and then surrounded Mudkip, making him unable to move.
"Mudkip, use Iron Tail to destroy those rocks," Serena said, and the tail fin of her Mudkip glowed and hardened, and then he used it to smash the boulders which were surrounding him and making him unable to move. "Now use Iron Tail on Nosepass!"
"Nosepass, use Sandstorm!" Roxanne called, and Nosepass' nose glowed light blue, and then Sandstorm appeared around it and then across the battlefield, effectively blowing Mudkip backwards and prevented him from using Iron Tail.
"Now, use Zap Cannon!" Roxanne said, and while Mudkip couldn't see Nosepass because of the Sandstorm, Nosepass can find Mudkip because Nosepass can use electromagnets in its nose as a compass.
"Mudkip, Protect, quickly!" Serena yelled, and Mudkip managed to rise a greenish wall in front of itself, just after Nosepass fired a massive electrical blast from its nose.
Zap Cannon hit the barrier in front of Mudkip, which caused the explosion big enough to push away the Sandstorm, which cleared the arena and allowed everyone to clearly see the Pokémon and the battlefield.
Once the Sandstorm and the dust from the explosion cleared, everyone saw that Mudkip's Protect was able to stop Zap Cannon from hitting him and didn't even crack.
"That was a good save, Serena," Roxanne praised Serena's move, and then moved to her own move. "Use Rock Tomb, Nosepass, and then immediately fire another Zap Cannon."
"I see, so she is trying to hit my Mudkip while trapped," Serena said to herself, and then smiled. "But that's not going to work. Mudkip, use Dig!"
Mudkip jumped up and then fell down on the ground hands first and dug itself into the ground, getting away from the boulders which Nosepass created to trap it.
"Nosepass, be careful, Mudkip can get out from the ground anywhere," Roxanne warned her Pokémon, who nodded, and tried to pinpoint where Mudkip was going to come out.
Few moments later, the ground behind Nosepass broke, and Mudkip came out, but at the same time, Nosepass turned around, and the two looked at each other.
"Mudkip use Water Gun!" Serena said right away.
"Nosepass, use Zap Cannon!" Roxanne said as well.
Both attacks collided with one another, but because of the type advantage, Nosepass' attack broke through Mudkip's, hitting Mudkip who was mid-air, and sent him flying backwards behind Roxanne, where he then crushed into the wall under the bleachers.
"Oh no, Mudkip!" Serena yelled as she saw her Pokémon take that powerful attack, but couldn't do anything else, except to wait and see if Mudkip can fight or not.
Unfortunately for her, when Mudkip didn't rise back up again after few moments, and the referee declared the round in Roxanne's favor. "Mudkip is unable to continue, the round two goes to Nosepass!"
Serena sighed and recalled her Pokémon. "You did great, Mudkip, thanks," she said to her Pokémon, before she took Ralts' Poke Ball, and released him back to the field. "It's up to you now, Ralts."
"Begin!" The referee started the third round, and immediately, Serena went with her first move.
"Ralts, start with Psybeam!"
"Counter it with Zap Cannon!" Roxanne said, and at the same time, both Pokémon fired their attacks, which collided. After few moments of pushing, trying to overpower one another, both attacks exploded, rising a dust cloud at the middle of the battlefield.
"Rock Tomb!" Roxanne said, trying to use the cover of the dust since Ralts might not be able to see Nosepass, who on the other hand, can sense Ralts.
"Dodge," Serena yelled, as she didn't want Ralts to be trapped by Rock Tomb as he can't get himself out with Iron Tail like Mudkip could.
Ralts was able to dodge boulders which sprouted from the ground around him by jumping in the air above them. "Use Growl!" Serena called, and after he came back down on the battle field, Ralts let out a loud cry, causing shockwaves which struck Nosepass, lowering its attack power and calming him down slightly.
Knowing that if she goes with attack right now, Nosepass could pull out some defensive move like Geodude used Defense Curl earlier, Serena decided to go with a different approach. "Use Hypnosis!"
Roxanne had to admit that she was expecting Serena to use Psybeam after that Growl, just like she did when Ralts fought Geodude, but she was again caught off guard when instead, Serena use Hypnosis, and again, just like Geodude, Roxanne's second Pokémon fell victim to the same move.
Nosepass was hit by Hypnosis, and just like Geodude, it fell asleep, which only left Serena a finishing move, since just like Geodude, Nosepass couldn't do a single thing to save itself, and Roxanne knew this, as she has practically given up on the battle just before Ralts's final attack, Psybeam hit Nosepass, causing an explosion, which took Nosepass out of the battle.
"Nosepass is unable to battle, Ralts wins! The winner of this match goes to the challenger, Serena!" The referee called after he saw that Nosepass is not coming back up.
"All right," Serena yelled, as she was happy to have won, and hugged her Ralts, who smiled while in her arms. "You were great, Ralts. Thank you for the great battles."
Ralts nodded, and then Serena returned him to his Poke Ball so he can rest.
Roxanne returned her defeated Nosepass, and approached Serena, along with Ash, May and Max, and all of them congratulated her.
"Serena, I'm happy to present to you this Stone Badge as a proof of your win in Rustboro Gym," Roxanne said, and gave Serena yellow and golden colored badge.
"Thanks', Roxanne," Serena said as she took the badge, looked at it, and then placed it in her badge case along with the badge she won from Norman in Petalburg Gym.
"So, Roxanne, are we going to postpone our battle until later today or tomorrow so you can have your Pokémon healed," Ash asked, and Roxanne looked at him with a smile.
"There is no need for that, Ash," Roxanne said, confusing everyone. "While I usually only use Geodude and Nosepass in my gym battles, I do have other Pokémon as well, and I'm going to use two of them in my battle against you."
"Great." Ash said with a smile, and so, he and Roxanne stood on their positions on the battlefield, while Serena went to the bleachers with May and Max to watch the battle.
The referee announced the match, and after Roxanne and Ash chose their Pokémon, the battle started.
XXX
In his own battle against Roxanne, Ash didn't have an easy time, that's for sure.
He chose his first Pokémon to be Duskull, while Roxanne chose Omastar which surprised Ash as he wasn't expecting it.
Omastar proved to be more than a match for Duskull, and in the end, the round ended in a tie, and that's only because none of the two Pokémon had the type advantage over the other, so Duskull, even though he was weaker then Omastar, was able to pull out a tie.
In the second round, with only one Pokémon left, each, Roxanne and Ash sent out Onix and Treecko, and this round proved to be much better than the previous one, since Onix was stronger than Omastar, and Treecko was stronger than both Duskull and Omastar, and has pulled out some good moves which he knew and some which Ash taught him, like Iron Tail.
In the end, it turned out that both Pokémon were about equal, but what gave Treecko the advantage to win, was the Iron Tail, which he used to hit Onix straight on the head, thus defeating him, and earning Ash the second gym badge in Hoenn Region.
XXX
Right now, Ash and the gang were standing at the abandoned part of the city, which used to be a port, and Ash sighed at their predicament, and was thinking back to how they ended up there in the first place.
After Ash won his gym badge in Rustboro Gym, they all decided to head to Dewford Island, where the next Gym is located, but first May wanted to do some shopping in Rustboro, and Ash was fine with that, since Serena was also interested.
Max on the other hand was interested for a whole of two seconds, until he spilled some juice on his PokéNav, and was afraid to tell the others so he run away to try and find a way to fix it.
He did find it in the end, when he met an older man who directed him at Devon Corporation building, so Max went there.
Later while in the Devon Corporation building, Max found out that the old man was actually the president of the company. He gave Max a tour, and Max saw several machines which were in the progress of being made, and none is currently working. Not even the Fossil restoration device.
During Max's visit of Devon Corporation, there was a trouble with a thief who stole something valuable, and then made a run for it, only to be surrounded on the roof of the building by the Devon Corporation president, Max, as well as Ash, Serena, May and few others including Officer Jenny, who have all arrived there.
After a short battle, the thief was defeated but still managed to escape, though what he stole was retrieved.
Ash and the others learned that the thief was most likely from Team Aqua, and then they heard the story about Team's Aqua and Magma who are two criminal organizations of Hoenn.
At the end of the day, The President of Devon Corporation invited Ash and the gang to a dinner to thank them for helping him, and it was revealed that he has fixed the PokéNav which Max broke.
Although, Ash noticed what's going on between the two, but remained quiet and later found out the full story from Max after he questioned him.
The next morning, which is this morning, they followed May's map of the city and arrived at the port where they were planning to take a ferry to go to Dewford Island, only to find out that the map is 10 years old and that the port has been abandoned.
"So, what do we do now?" Serena asked as she and the others stood at the shore of the abandoned port.
"I guess we have to find another way to get to Dewford Island." May said.
"We have another way," Ash said as he pulled his Pokedex. "Should have done this right away."
Everyone watched as Ash used his Pokedex to call Professor Oak, and asked him to send him his Lapras, and Professor Oak, did.
"Hey Lapras, how've you been," Ash asked his Lapras after he released her from the Poke Ball which Professor Oak sent him? "Did you miss me?"
Lapras cued and leaned into Ash's touch as he was patting her on the head, and said she is happy to see him.
"Can you give us a ride to another Island where we need to go?" Ash asked, and Lapras nodded.
"Ok then, everyone, hop on." Ash said, and Serena, May and Max climbed on Lapras's back, and then they were off toward Dewford Island.
"I got to say, this is certainly an unusual way to travel." May said.
"Yeah, but I like to travel from Island to Island like this," Ash said. "Misty, Tracey and I traveled like this through the entire Orange Archipelago."
"Really?" Max questioned with a raised eyebrows.
"Yep." Ash confirmed.
And so, the gang left Rustboro City, and were on their way to Dewford Island and to their next adventure.