"Tyrogue, start with Bulk Up!" Serena started the battle.
Tyrogue heard his trainer, and then he flexed his arms, before he was engulfed in a crimson aura.
"Good, now use Swift!" Serena then went on the offence, and her Pokemon crouched his body into a ball, then he opened back up quickly and multiple yellow stars flew out of his body at Electrode who was hit by the yellow stars, causing a small explosion.
"That was a good start, Serena," Wattson praised his challenger. "But it will not be enough to take out my Electrode." As he said that, the dust cloud from the explosion cleared out, and showed that Electrode was covered in some bruises, but was mostly fine.
"Use Rollout, Electrode!" Wattson said his first move, and then his Electric type started to spin forwards and went at high speed at Tyrogue.
"Dodge," Serena shouted seeing her opponents Pokemon about to slam into her own, and Tyrogue jumped high into the air, dodging the rolling ball which would have caused him quite a bit of damage.
"Use Swift, again," Serena said, and from up in the air, Tyrogue crouched into a ball, again, and when he opened up he fired dozens of yellow stars at Electrode, who has stopped spinning and was just standing in front of his trainer.
Tyrogue's attack hit again, and dealt even more damage to the electric type, but it was still not enough to defeat it.
Tyrogue came back down in the field, and then Serena called her next move. "Now use Brick Break!"
Tyrogue jumped into the air, before he started to fall down at Electrode trying to hit it with the side of his hand.
"Charge Beam!" Wattson said making Serena's eyes widen in surprise and shock. Instantly, Electrode's body become surrounded by yellow sparks and it fired a massive blast of electricity from its body at Tyrogue, who was in the air, so he couldn't dodge it, and was hit by a powerful electric attack.
"NOOO, Tyrogue!" Serena yelled as she saw her Pokemon engulfed by a powerful electric attack, which caused an explosion. A moment later, Tyrogue flew from where he was, all the way backwards and behind Serena where he fell on the floor, rolled few meters until he finally stopped.
Unfortunately for both of them, Tyrogue was done for, as he has passed out. "Tyrogue is unable to continue," Watt said! "The winner of round one is the Electrode!"
Serena sighed and returned her Pokemon back to his Poke Ball. "You did well, Tyrogue," she said. "Now take a nice rest." She then returned Tyrogue's Poke Ball to her poke belt, and took another Poke Ball.
"Come on out, Marshtop!" Serena called her second Pokemon, who immediately came out from his Poke Ball, and stood in front of his opponent glaring at it.
"Well, well, a Marshtomp," Wattson said in interest. "A nice choice against my Electric type. I'm staying with my Electrode for this round."
"Round two! BEGIN!" Watt said, and this time, Wattson started first by having his Electrode use Charge Beam.
Marshtomp dodged, and then used Mud Shot, by shooting multiple balls made from mud at Electrode, who rolled and dodged them all.
"Use Rollout!" Watson said, but Serena again told her Marshtomp to dodge, and he did, before Serena followed it up with Iron Tail, and this time, Marshtomp laid a hit at Electrode who was sent flying because of the Steel type attack.
Iron Tail didn't take out Electrode, but was enough to weaken it greatly when added to the previous injuries from the battle against Tyrogue, and the exhaustion from the battles. Serena used this chance, and had her Marshtomp use Mud Shot, again, and this time, Marshtomp hit Electrode, sending it flying before if fell on the floor and rolled all the way to the gym wall, where it crushed and passed out.
"Electrode is unable to continued," Watt announced! "The second round goes to the challenger!"
"Well done, Serena," Wattson said as he returned his defeated Electrode. "Now let's see how you do against my second Pokemon. Come one out, Electrike!"
Wattson released his second Pokemon, who stood on the field releasing sparks of electricity from its body, signifying that it is pumped up for battle.
"Are you ready for this, Marshtomp?" Serena asked her Pokemon, who nodded, and so the third round started.
"BEGIN!"
"Electrike, use Quick Attack!" Wattson started first. Electrike started to run at Serena's Marshtomp at the great speed while surrounded by silver aura, all while leaving behind itself a silver trail.
In an instant, Electrike was in front of Marshtomp and slammed into him, sending him gliding on the floor for several meters until Marshtomp stopped.
"Good job hanging tough, Marshtomp," Serena praised her Pokemon. "Now use Earthquake!"
Marshtomp jumped into the air, and came back down, slamming his legs hard onto the ground, causing the earthquake, which shook the entire gym, and made Electrike stumble and barely hold itself from falling down.
"Now use Mud Shot!" Serena went with the next move, and Marshtomp fired multiple balls of mud at Electrike, who was shaking a little from the Earthquake, and was unable to dodge, which is why it was hit by all the mud balls, all over it's body, thus reducing its speed for at least a little while.
"Come on, Electrike, you can do it," Wattson cheered for his Pokemon to not give up, and was successful, since Electrike stood firmly on all four, and glared at Marshtomp, ready for battle, even though it was all muddied from the previous attack, which will definitely be a problem. "Use Quick Attack and then Iron Tail!"
Electrike again ran and slammed into Marshtomp, but again, Marshtomp held himself well and didn't fly backwards, proving that his physical strength is greater than Electrike's. Electrike's middle tail then glowed silver and hardened, before it jumped into the air, and somersaulted to hit Marshtomp.
"Counter it with your Iron Tail, Marshtomp!" Serena said and Marshtomp's two tail fins glowed white, and then he also jumped and intercepted Electrike, slamming his tail fins against Electrike's tail.
The clash caused a small shockwave to spread around the field, but it was small and didn't affect anyone, instead they all just watched as the two Pokemon pushed at each other for a few seconds, before they both managed to push the other one backwards, where they both came back to the floor in front of their trainers.
"Electrike, use Crunch!" Wattson said, and his Pokemon run toward Marshtomp while its teeth glowing white, and was ready to bite down on Marshtomp.
Unfortunately for Wattson and his Pokemon, this is a mistake which Serena waited, and so she said. "Use Hydro Pump!"
Just when Electrike was close to him, Marshtomp blasts a powerful jet of water from his mouth at Electrike, who was hit head on, and sent flying all the way to behind Wattson until it slammed into the gym wall, where it the fell on the floor, passed out, while drenched in water. At least it was now clean from the mud, though.
"Electrike is unable to battle," Watt announced! "The third round goes to the challenger and the gym leader is now down to only one Pokemon!"
Wattson sighed and returned his defeated Electrike. "Damn, that really caught me by surprise," he said, while pulling his last Poke Ball. "But this is one of my strongest Pokemon. So let's see how you will handle him. Come out, Electivire!"
Serena saw Electivire, and knew that it will be a hard battle, and that her Marshtomp will most likely lose as he was already tired, and still not at the level to fight against this Electivire. Still, she decided to stay with Marshtomp, and try to at least do some damage with him before she releases her final Pokemon.
Unfortunately for Serena, she was only able to hold Electivire for two moves, where her Marshtomp dodged one, and then defended with Protect from the second, but the third, which was Mega Punch was the one which defeated Marshtomp, and left Serena with only one Pokemon to battle.
Serena's final Pokemon was also her first and strongest Pokemon. Delphox.
When she released her, and Watt saw that both trainers are ready to end this match, he started the final round. "BEGIN!"
"Delphox, use Future Sight, and then follow it with Flamethrower!" Serena said, and her Pokémon's eyes glowed red for a second before they returned to normal. Then, Delphox spit out a Flamethrower from her mouth, but was countered by two bolts of lightning which Electivire shot from the two horns on his head.
"Now use Thunder Punch!" Wattson said. Electivire's right fist was surrounded by yellow electricity, and then he run at Delphox to hit her with it.
"Use Fire Spin, Delphox!" Serena said, and Delphox stick out her wand, and shoot a stream of swirling fire from the tip at Electivire, who in order to defend himself, used Thunder Punch on the incoming fire spin. The two attacks clashed, and after few moments, Electivire was able to redirect the fire spin upward into the air, where the fire disappeared, but the electricity around Electivire's fist disappeared as well.
"Use Swift!" Wattson said. Electivire opened his mouth and yellow starts shoot out at Delphox who was hit by many of them and received some damage, but not much.
"Delphox, use Fire Blast!" Serena said.
"Counter with Thunderbolt, Electivire!" Wattson said.
While Delphox released a 大-shaped blast of yellow-orange fire from her stick at Electivire. He fired two lightning bolts from his horns at the same time, making the two attacks collide with each other.
After few moments, Fire Blast overpowered the Thunderbolt, and hit Electivire, burning him badly in the process.
"Oh, no, Electivire," Wattson yelled as he saw his Pokemon being hit by a very powerful fire type attack.
Electivire, despite the burns, managed to get up, and continue the battle, but before he could use his next move, there was a wind felt around the gym, making everyone's eyes widen as they remembered the Future Sight which Serena used at the start of the battle.
Suddenly, a hole in the air above Electivire opened, and from inside a beam of black fire shot and hit Electivire, who shouted in pain from the very powerful attack, which only increased the burns and damage he got from the Fire Blast.
When the beam and the hole disappeared, Electivire was seen on the floor, on both of his knees, and holding himself on his hands, while panting in exhaustion and pain, as he was covered in burns.
Wattson sighed, as he knew this battle was over, though he did say to his Pokemon to try and use a Mega Kick.
It was useless, though, because Serena reacted right away, as she wanted to use this chance to end the battle, so she told her Delphox to use another Fire Blast.
Delphox did just that, and Electivire was hit, again, but this time, he didn't get up, and stayed lying on the battlefield, unconscious.
"Electivire is unable to continue," Watt said! "The round goes to Delphox and the winner of the match is the challenger, Serena!"
With the battles in the Mauvile Gym over, and with their fourth badges safe in their badge cases, Ash, Serena and May paid another visit to Red, Riley and Urahara, and after they said goodbye to them, returned to the Pokemon Center where they stayed that night, until they left Mauvile City the next morning after breakfast, and headed north, toward the next gym in Lavaridge Town.
On the way to Lavaridge Town, about 10 miles north from Mauvile City, Ash, Serena and May found themselves in a place known as a Trainer Hill, and there, they learned that that is the place where many trainers gather to have Pokemon Battles against each other in order to improve themselves and their Pokemon either for gym battles or for the Regional tournament.
While there, they encountered Brendan and Sawyer, as well as dozens of other trainers who were there to have sparing battle against each other. And so, the three newly arrived trainers decided to enter so they can see how they rank up against other trainers who were also on their way to the Ever Grande Conference.
Ash, Serena and May stayed on the Trainer Hill for four days, and had multiple battles against different opponents every single day. Most of the battle, the three have won, but there have been a few losses here and there, though Ash hasn't actually lost a single match, overall, but has lost some Pokemon, and has come close to losing a match few times against some trainers who have already qualified for the Conference, or are on their seventh or eighth badge.
When it comes to evolutions among the Pokemon in the teams, there have been few which evolved.
In Ash's case, only his Taillow has evolved into Swallow. Ash was fine with that, since most of his other Pokemon are in their second forms and are not ready to go farther. The one other Pokemon Ash's had who are ready to evolve was Feebas, and Ash has given her Prism Scale on the fourth day of the stay at the Trainer Hill, after which, Feebas evolved into a beautiful Milotic.
Of Serena's Pokemon who evolved, there is her Taillow, who, coincidently evolved at the same time as Ash's Taillow, and in the middle of the battle against each other. That round has ended in a tie in the end. None of her other Pokemon have evolved, though she has used quite a lot in the battles her two Tyrogue's and her Noibat, and even though none of the three has evolved, there are very close, and maybe few more battles is what they need to finally break through the barrier to their higher forms.
May has finally seen her Torchic and Lotad evolve into Combusken and Lombre, and was very happy for them, and because of the fact she now knows that her training is paying off, as her Pokemon are becoming stronger as the time passes.
On the morning of the fifth day since Ash, Serena and May arrived at the Trainer Hill, they decided that it was enough of the training, so they left the place, and continued toward the Lavaridge Town.
Ash, Serena and May were walking on a mountain path on their way to Lavaridge Town where Ash and Serena are going to have their fifth gym battle in Hoenn Region.
As they were walking, several small rocks rolled down from the hill and passed in front of them, before the rocks continued to fall down into the ravine.
"What was that?" May asked, and all three looked above them. Much to their surprise, they saw a Bagon.
"Is that… a Bagon?" Serena asked in wonder.
"It sure is," Ash said with a smile. "I didn't think we would run into one just like that."
"But what's it doing up there?" May asked.
"I don't know," Ash said. "But I guess we are about to find out."
Just as Ash said that, Bagon jumped from the cliff, making Serena and May gasp in shock, while Ash just shook his head, as he now knew what Bagon is doing. "Oh, hell no!" Serena shouted as she saw Bagon flail its arms and legs trying to fly, but when that fell apart, it started to fall down toward them.
Serena and May run away from the falling Bagon, as they knew that if it falls on them, they would be done for. Ash on the other hand, just stayed where he was, and only moved slightly to the side avoiding Bagon's, Headbutt, when it was close to him.
Bagon fell head first into a boulder and broke in in small pieces.
"What the hell was that?" May asked as she and Serena returned next to Ash, and all three were looking at the small dust cloud which rose when Bagon broke the boulder, and was now covering it from sight.
"Bagon's do that," Ash said. "A lot."
"But, why?" May asked again.
"Bagon's final form is Salamence," Serena said. "So every Bagon wishes to evolve into Salamence as soon as possible so they can fly. Because of that, they tend to like to battle a lot in order to improve, as well as like to throw themselves from high-up and try to fly, even though they can't until they evolve into Salamence."
By then, the dust cleared, and Bagon was seen standing where boulder used to be, and are now only small pieces of rocks left. It was glaring at the group, and growling at them. The look on its face was quickly interpreted as the challenging one.
"It wants to battle." Ash said, making May and Serena look at each other for a few moments, before Serena smirked.
"Well, then I'll battle it," she said, and walked forward in front of Bagon. "And when I win… I will capture it and train it to become Salamence just as big and strong as yours… Ash."
Bagon perked up as it heard what Serena said, and looked at Ash with narrowed but interested eyes, while May looked at Ash with surprised eyes. "You have a Salamence?" May questioned.
"Yeah," Ash said. "I caught him as Bagon in Blackthorn City in Johto Region, and trained him until he became Salamence. He is back at Oak's Ranch along with my other Pokemon."
As Ash was talking to May, Serena released the Pokemon she plans to use to fight Bagon.
It was Kirlia. "Are you ready for this, Kirlia," Serena asked her Pokemon, who nodded, and the two then looked at Bagon who was not just ready, but has already charging at Kirlia using, Headbutt.
"Teleport, and then, Psybeam!" Serena said, and Kirlia disappeared from her spot, making Bagon charge into empty space and then fall on his face from charging to hard and being unable to stop itself.
Kirlia then appeared out of thin air right behind Bagon, and fired a multicolored beam from his eyes at Bagon's back, which hit the Dragon Pokemon and inflicted it some damage, though not enough to defeat it.
"Good job, Kirlia," Serena praised her Pokemon, while Bagon stood back up and glared at its opponent and his trainer.
Bagon then took a deep breath, and then fired a white beam at Kirlia.
"That's Dragon Breath! Dodge it, Kirlia!" Serena said to her Pokemon, who jumped high into the air, and above the beam, which hit the ground and caused an explosion.
The explosion caused a dust to rise up and covered Kirlia and Bagon from Serena's sight, which prevented her from seeing what happened next, but when she heard a yell of pain from her Kirlia, she knew it was nothing good.
"Kirlia," Serena yelled as she was worried about her Pokemon!
When the dust cleared, Serena saw Bagon biting Kirlia on his left arm with Bagon's teeth glowing white. "Damn, its Crunch," Serena said and though for a moment how to help her Pokemon, and finally came up with something. "Kirlia, use Hypnosis to pry Bagon away from you."
Kirlia's irises started to glow red while looking at Bagon, who was still biting hard on his left arms, and then Bagon's eyes glowed red as well and suddenly, he fell asleep, while its jaw unhinged from Kirlia's arm, making Kirlia let a breath of relief, though he was still in a lot of pain, and there was some blood from the bite wound.
Serena threw one of her empty Poke Balls at Bagon and caught it, before she run to her Kirlia to check the wound on his arm. "Are you ok, Kirlia?" Serena asked, while looking over Kirlia's arm and searching for some healing potion in her bag so she can heal the bite wound as best as she could until they reach the next Pokemon Center where Nurse Joy can take care of it. Kirlia nodded, and watched as Serena, Ash and May were applying the potion on his left arm.
After they were over few minutes later, Serena returned Kirlia back to his Poke Ball, and looked at Ash. "How long until the next Pokemon Center?" She asked.
Ash shook his head. "We are heading toward the desert part of the Hoenn, and there are no Pokemon Centers anywhere close to here," he said, making Serena frown. "I think you should send Kirlia to Oak's Lab where he can take care of him, and if necessary, send him to Nurse Joy."
"Right, your Pokedex," Serena said, and Ash nodded. Serena agreed, before Ash pulled out his Pokedex, called Oak to tell him about it and what needs to be done, and then used the Pokedex to send Kirlia's Poke Ball to Oak's Lab.
With Bagon captured and Kirlia sent back to Oak's Lab, Ash, Serena and May continued their journey toward north, through Hoenn desert and to Lavaridge Town.