Next chapter ready. With some preparations done, its time to begin training for the rematch at the Vermillion Gym. Will it be enough to earn the Thunder Badge, or will another adjustment of strategy be required to finally earn his third Badge.
Let's find out.
XXXX
With everything set, Ash had decided that for the next week or so they'd spend the time training and preparing. As of currently it had been about 3 days and they were already well underway, the group training in a grassy field just outside of Vermillion City. Even if Ash had a pretty good idea as to who he wanted to use in the upcoming rematch, he still didn't neglect to train everyone he had on hand, even rotating them out here and there to give everyone a turn. To begin with, assuming he was going to fight a 3 on 3 Match again, Wooper and Diglett were a guaranteed choice due to being immune to Electric moves which would no doubt still be the strongest asset Visquez had. However, just in case they had to plan for more, Ash switched out Squirtle for Nidoran, deciding that having a Poison type might increase their chances of winning if they ever had to resort to a battle of attrition.
From there they had taken the time to work on a number of things. For one they went over how the fight had gone, and agreed that they needed to work on some endurance, especially with how strong Visquez's Pokemon were. Among the endurance training, Ash had Pikachu use weak electric attacks on some of the others, the goal being to slowly build up their endurance to electricity (after he double checked on the internet how viable this kind of training was).
On top of that, he had his Pokemon spar against each other as usual, with Diglett being a major focus to help the new addition to his team get up to speed, the little mole quite motivated to focus on the training. "Okay Diglett, let's see your Rock Tomb!" Ash ordered.
Diglett obeyed and glowed for a moment, before a series of rocks materialized and flew towards the wooden target, falling on it. The target they'd set up was promptly buried under and trapped by the rocks.
"And now, Rock Slide!" Ash continued.
Diglett glowed again, creating more rocks which were all but fired from the air onto the entombed target, causing a small explosion of force as the rocks were all destroyed and dust obscuring the target. Once the dust cleared, the target was in pieces from the force of the attack.
"Alright! That was perfect, Diglett!" Ash congratulated, Diglett showing his happiness by going in and out of his holes with a happy expression on his face. It seemed the two TMs Brock had loaned him were going to help them a lot.
Taking his attention off of Diglett for a moment, he smiled as he looked to the rest of his Pokemon. Nidoran and Bulbasaur were squaring off against each other, the two quick to keep up with each other while trading blows as they aimed to get the better of each other.
Not far from that, at a small body of water by the field, Wooper was squaring off against Butterfree, Butterfree quick to avoid Wooper's attacks whenever she emerged to fire her Water Gun at Butterfree, while being quick to try and hit Wooper with a Sleep Powder.
At the same time, Pikachu was training on a makeshift obstacle course, doing his best to clear it faster and faster each time to work on his speed and agility. He'd work on his strength later. All in all Ash was pleased to see everyone working hard and doing their best.
The training continued for a while, before they heard the sound of a triangle being rang, namely by Brock who'd already set up a portable stove and the like, and had just finished preparations for lunch. "Okay everyone, come and get it!" he smiled. That was all they needed to hear as they stopped training for now, and went over to the picnic spot that Misty had setup for them to eat.
"Thanks again for the food, Brock," Ash said as they all dug into the food, the Pokemon enjoying some of it as well as a selection of Pokemon Food...though it seemed they still prefered Brock's blends over the blends Ash had started trying his hand at making. "And it looks like whether its Pokemorph or Pokemon food, yours is still better," he added with a sweat drop.
Brock just laughed good naturedly at that one. "Well, it's all a matter of practice. I'm sure you'll get better eventually."
"That's probably gonna take a while," Misty said with an amused smirk.
Ash snorted at that but didn't refute it in the least. The group enjoyed their lunch, and once they were done, quickly cleaned up.
"Okay everyone, now that we're all filled up, ready to work on our skills again?" Ash asked his Pokemon, all of which let out cheers of agreement...before to everyone's surprise, two of them started glowing. The two being Nidoran and Wooper.
"Woah, guess the training was more effective than we thought," Brock said in surprise, as the two grew larger, and before long the light subsided, revealing a Nidorino and a Quagsire.
"Wow, guess the training's been paying off," Misty blinked in surprise at the sight.
"Not that I'm complaining," Ash chuckled once he got over the surprise. "Great work both of you," he said as the rest of his team cheered for their teammates' new growth. Nidorino and Quagsire both seemed quite pleased by this as well.
"Nidorino, the Poison Pin Pokemon. Nidorino is a Poison-type Pokemon native to the Kanto region and is the evolved form of a Male Nidoran. Nidorino are aggressive Pokemon that are known to attack at the first sign of danger. The horn on its head is said to be hard as diamond and contains a powerful poison."
"Quagsire, the Water Fish Pokemon. Quagsire is a Water/Ground-Type Pokemon Native to the Johto Region and is the evolved form of Wooper. Quagsire make their homes in freshwater lakes and muddy swamps alike, though it should be noted that for the ones living in freshwater, they favor clean freshwater lakes. Quagsire are known to be docile and mellow, even sometimes bumping into boats while swimming."
Ash nodded as he put away his Pokedex after using it to scan both of his newly evolved Pokemon. "Okay then, Nidorino should be fine with the current training style, but Quagsire…" he frowned as he looked at Quagsire who leaned forward in anticipation. "I think for you we're gonna have to work on endurance more now," he sweat dropped, to which Quagsire just shrugged as if saying 'what can you do?' regarding her evolution.
"Also, let's hold off on using the Moon Stone first," Ash said, turning to Nidorino. "Let's take some time to train first before you evolve into Nidoking. You might want to learn some of your other moves first before you go that far," he said.
Nidorino thought about it for a moment, before nodding in consent, seeing the logic there.
"Alright then, let's start with some basic exercises so you two can get used to your new bodies," Ash said, earning nods from the both of them. "Everyone else, back to how we planned," he said, to which the rest of his team all gave determined nods.
Once everyone was all settled in their routines, Ash frowned a bit and went over to Misty and Brock. "Something wrong, Ash?" Brock asked.
"I've been thinking about the fight and I think I need to expand my options a bit more," Ash said.
"So you want to learn a new Move?" Misty guessed, earning a nod. "Well...I don't think we have any TMs that'd work for you," she said, to which Ash gave a light glare.
"I'm not THAT desperate or in a hurry to learn a move," Ash said dryly with a sweat drop. Due to the fact they were still closely related genetically to their Pokemon cousins, Pokemorphs WERE able to use TMs as well...but doing so was NOT a practice many Pokemorphs did, as the TMs were known to have many harmless...but very unpleasant...side effects on any Pokemorph that used them. "Besides, I don't need a TM to learn this move. But I need help getting it right."
"Alright then, since you asked nicely, how can we help?" Misty asked.
"Honestly? I just need you to hit me with your Moves when the time comes," Ash frowned as he folded his arms.
"Ah...so it's THAT kind of Move," Brock sweat dropped. "Just make sure you've got it working properly before you ask us to use you as target practice."
"Don't have to tell me twice," Ash sweat dropped, before going back to his team, quickly explaining what he was going to do and then moving to a place where he could concentrate.
Finding a good spot, he sat down in a meditative position on a conveniently sized boulder and began to concentrate. He knew the basic idea of this Move, but he'd just never actually tried doing it. He felt the flow of energy in him, and started to imagine it as a shield. Outside, his body started to gain a shimmering green aura which manifested for a bit before flickering out.
Ash frowned a bit at that, but took a breath to calm himself and try again. He couldn't expect to get this done right on a first try after all.
XXXX
Training continued well till the sun started to set, and like the days before, they soon returned to the Pokemon Center to rest for the evening, and while they were at it, enjoy what Vermillion City had to offer.
"Gotta say, nothing quite beats seafood in a port city, especially when it's been freshly caught," Brock said with a smile. The three of them had just finished dinner at a local Seafood restaurant, and needless to say the restaurant earned their approval.
"Yeah, you just can't get this kind of freshness in towns that are inland," Ash agreed.
"Even in Cerulean we can't get seafood this fresh. Not to mention it's easier to find Pokemon that live in the ocean here for obvious reasons," Misty chuckled.
Pikachu and Charmander both agreed with the sentiment of how good the food was, especially since both had literally never tasted fish that was prepared nice and fresh.
"So...anything you wanna do?" Ash asked.
"Well, we still have a few hours before we HAVE to be back at the Pokemon Center...so we can just look around first," Brock said.
"Sounds good," Ash and Misty nodded as the group continued exploring. They passed a few normal stuff, like several street vendors, various shops, even an Arcade where they could play a few games. All in all it was a fun night on town for them. As they continued to explore the City though, something caught their eyes.
It was a two story building with a decent sized front yard, decorated by several Pokemon statues that also lined the walkway towards the entrance of the building which had a bright and cheerful paint job that stood out even now at night...a fact helped by the fact the front yard was well illuminated.
"Well...that's definitely something," Ash blinked, Pikachu and Charmander tilting their heads a little at the odd sight.
"Hm...Official Pokemon Fan Club, Kanto branch," Brock said, reading the sign.
"Oh yeah, I forgot the Pokemon Fan Club's main building was in Vermillion City," Misty mused.
"Pokemon Fan Club, huh? Seems like this could be fun," Ash chuckled. "Think we should check it out?"
"We've still got some time so sure," Brock chuckled as they all soon entered the building.
The inside of the building was cheerfully decorated with various posters and decorations, all themed around Pokemon. Needless to say, one could easily tell the love for Pokemon that the decorators were trying to convey. The people there with their Pokemon out and mingling further helped to promote the image. There were even a few kids who were getting a chance to interact with a bunch of different Pokemon too.
"Wow, this place looks great," Ash couldn't help but say with a grin.
"Guess we shouldn't expect anything less from the Pokemon Fan Club," Misty chuckled as they soon walked further in. As they did, they passed a reception desk with the receptionist, a female Jigglypuff Pokemorph, speaking up.
"Welcome to the Pokemon Fan Club, Kanto Branch. Here we just love everything Pokemon," the receptionist said with a smile. "Are you perhaps hoping to join?"
"Well not really. We're travelling Trainer-Fighters, and we happened to see this place and wanted to check it out," Ash said.
"Though if you want to, we wouldn't be opposed either," Brock said, his usual lovestruck look on his face as he got closer to the receptionist...who just sweat dropped, before Misty pulled Brock away by the ear.
"We're terribly sorry about him. If it's okay we'll just look around and be on our way," Misty said, giving Brock an annoyed look.
"It's no trouble at all. We're always happy to welcome Trainers coming through. In fact, we're having a special at the moment. Trainers that drop by this week get a free shot at our Raffle each," the receptionist said, gesturing to a table to the side of the room with male Meowth Pokemorph dressed up in a rather festive outfit, complete with a bell in his hand for if anyone won a prize. On the table was a wooden raffle device where the people doing it would spin the wheel and depending on the color of the ball that came out, they'd get a different prize. Of course, there was the very real chance they'd pull a blank too, so...yeah. Oh well, it was free, so they weren't complaining.
"Well, if you're offering then sure, we'll give it a try," Ash smiled as they all went in. The people in the club were friendly, and it was fun comparing Pokemon, even if the members seemed to generally favor the more 'cute' variety of Pokemon. Of course there were a few exceptions here and there. Either way it was a fun experience, but eventually it was time for them to go back. But not before they tried the raffle. Each of them took a turn spinning the wheel, starting with Ash, then Brock, then Misty, Pikachu cheering for them as they took their turns.
However, the first two spins...were white balls, meaning it was a miss. "Guess its not really our lucky night, huh?" Brock chuckled with a light sweat drop.
"Well, can't say I wasn't expecting this. I mean, they ARE letting us spin for free after all," Ash sweat dropped. It was kind of a given that a free raffle would have a higher chance of missing.
"Well then, let's see if my luck is better tonight," Misty chuckled, before starting her spin. The raffle turned and when she stopped, a ball came out...revealing a golden ball, causing everyone to gasp in surprise.
"Congratulations!" the person manning the table shouted, ringing the bell. "You've won one of our top tier prizes!" he said, before some of the staff members of the club quickly retrieved the Prize, before coming back and presenting it to them. "One family ticket for three to ride on the famed S. S. Anne!" he declared.
"Wait, by S. S. Anne, do you mean the famed cruise ship?!" Brock gasped.
"That's right! To celebrate 60 years of the Pokemon League of Kanto, a 3 day Pokemon Convention and cruise will be held on the S. S. Anne, heading for Porta Vista!" the Meowth explained.
"So that means all of us can ride then?" Misty gasped.
"That's right! You three and your Pokemon are all welcome to ride on the cruise when it leaves. Please register your names and trainer licenses on your way out, and this ticket will be for you and you alone!"
"Alright! Let's do that then!" Ash grinned, as everyone nodded and they wasted no time in finalizing the registration for their ticket.
"Looks like we know what we're doing in a few days," Brock chuckled as they walked out of the Fan Club.
"Yeah, a cruise sounds like a great victory celebration!" Ash grinned, Pikachu cheering in agreement too.
"Just as long as you actually win the Badge this time," Misty teased.
"Well then, guess we've got even MORE reason to win this time," Ash said, while Pikachu gave a determined 'Chu!'. They both wanted to be able to see this cruise as a celebration for their win.
Charmander watched them, and he couldn't help but smile again at their antics. Once again a feeling started to well up in him, which made him wonder...did he want to make this decision? Or did he want to stay as he was? Hm...perhaps he'd give it a bit more thought first. Besides...it's not like they were in a hurry for anything, right?
The group soon returned to the Pokemon Center, and seeing as it was getting late, there wasn't much to do beyond get ready for bed. Of course, in light of their recent development, Ash had something else he definitely wanted to do.
Once in the room they were sharing, Ash went over to the phone that was provided in the room and called home.
The phone rang slowly, before eventually it was picked up. "Hello? Ketchum Residence," came Carmine's voice from the other end.
"Hey Dad, it's me, Ash," Ash said with a grin.
The moment he did, the screen came on allowing them to see his father. "Hey Ash, how's your journey been?" Carmine grinned, always glad to hear from his son.
"It's been great. Didn't win my first try at the Vermillion Gym, but I'm preparing for my rematch," he said...until he properly looked at the screen...and noticed he could see his father's shoulders, something Misty and Brock could too, but decided not to comment on.
"Uh… is this a bad time?" Brock couldn't help but ask with a raised eyebrow.
"Oh not at all. We're always happy to receive a call from you," Carmine smiled.
"If you say so…" Misty sweat dropped a little.
Carmine's attention shifted a bit for a moment. "Delia, Ash is on the phone," he said, and unsurprisingly they could hear the sound of someone coming closer, and Delia soon came into view. Though when she did, Ash gained a HUGE sweat drop, realizing that yes, they probably DID call at a bad time.
Why? Because his mother was wearing a dark purple skintight outfit that literally hugged her body and left little to the imagination. And by little he meant that in the brief moment she shifted to sit down or get stable in front of the camera, her breasts were in view for a split second...and the suit was skin tight enough that her nipples were visible through the suit...and it should be noted that normally a Pokemorph's genitals were hidden under their fur or scales or whatever.
"Hey, isn't that…?" Brock started...but winced when Ash immediately stepped on his foot, before quickly giving him a 'don't talk' look.
His parents noticed that and sweat dropped a little. "So...how have you been, dear?" Delia asked, coughing a little.
"We've been great. We're progressing at our own pace, and I'm gonna challenge the Vermillion Gym again once I'm done preparing," Ash said with a nod.
"That's great," Delia smiled.
"And we're very proud of how you're handling the Gym," Carmine added. "Losing is also part of learning from the journey. I trust you've already thought of how to improve."
"Of course," Ash grinned. "I've been training and preparing so we don't make the same mistakes again, and we're thinking up strategies of how to fight next time. I've even been working on some of your Moves, Mom," he added.
"I'm sure you'll use them well," Delia smiled. "Where do you plan to go next after you win your next Badge?"
"That's actually part of why I wanted to call," Ash grinned, before Misty went a bit closer and took out their ticket.
"Ta-da," Misty couldn't help but grin, quite eager to show the prize she won. "One ticket for 3 to ride on the S. S. Anne, headed for beautiful Porta Vista," she grinned.
The Ketchum couple blinked then looked closer. "Wow, there's something we didn't expect to see," Carmine whistled in surprise.
"Yeah, we'll be headed to Porta Vista after this," Brock nodded. "It was lucky that Misty won this in a Raffle."
"In that case...how about we meet you over there?" Delia said with a smile.
"What do you mean?" Ash asked with a confused blink.
"Well a few things," Carmine chuckled. "For one, it'd be fun to meet there, and as it so happens, Professor Oak has been thinking about going on a beach trip and Porta Vista sounds like a great choice."
"Another reason is well...there's something we'd like to tell you, but we want to save it for when we see you in person," Delia said, and for a moment she blushed a little, a warm smile on her face.
Ash blinked at that one. "Did...something happen?" he couldn't help but ask.
"Yes, and don't worry. It's nothing bad," Carmine smiled as well. "Think of it as extra incentive to meet us there," he smiled.
"Well...if you say so," Ash said, not sure what else to say.
"At any rate, it's getting late. Let's talk some more another time. Good luck on your Rematch," Delia smiled.
"Okay, talk to you both soon," Ash smiled as they soon ended the call. "I wonder what they want to tell me...?" he frowned after ending the call.
"Well, they seemed really happy when they said that," Misty smiled. "Though speaking of happy…" she sweat dropped a bit.
"Yeah...I gotta ask...that costume your mom was wearing...isn't that…?" Brock started.
Ash groaned at that and cut him off. "Yes, it's a costume from THAT series of H-Games," he confirmed. "Long story short, they got it a few years before they had me. Apparently they stumbled on filming for the live action adaptation, and the stunt double called in sick that day. Mom ended up filling in, and they let her keep the costume as part of the payment," he explained with a groan.
"Well...it uh...looks good on her?" Misty sweat dropped.
"Thank you, Dad's definitely thinking the same," Ash deadpanned.
XXXX
The next morning soon came, and putting aside the awkwardness of calling apparently while his parents were preparing for some...fun...Ash felt well rested and ready to further his training. With the tickets, they now had only a few days for him to win against the Vermillion Gym lest they have to skip Vermillion City for the time being.
More determined than ever, Ash threw himself into his training, his Pokemon doing the same. Strategies were drawn out, and they practiced their various moves that they expected would be most helpful against the Gym (though not neglecting their other Moves too). Ash had managed to properly use Protect, something he'd soon tested out with Misty and Brock, the two of them hitting him with a few of their Moves, but he managed to block them...at least until the Protect wore off and he got drenched by a Water Gun at the end. Either way, it would serve its purpose and with this Ash had more defensive options in his repertoire.
However, realizing he still had time, he didn't sit still with just learning defense. Once again standing before a makeshift dummy, he was essentially trying to claw away at it. At first that went...about as well as one might expect, needing him to give his arms a break every so often. But once he was done, he soon was back at it again, focusing his energy into his hands each time, focusing on the image of claws.
After several attempts, his hands started to glow as three claws made of energy manifested, and with a shout, he cut the dummy in half. "Alright, now we're making some real progress," he smirked a little, looking at his hand as the Metal Claw faded away. It was time to master the Move and then incorporate it into his fight style. He had more work to do.
The next couple of days soon flew by, Ash taking time to also rotate his team while training, allowing him to spend some time with all of his Pokemon, even giving Krabby some time to finally get some training and bonding in (something he admitted he'd neglected due to how things had been lately). Eventually though time grew short, so it was now or never.
XXXX
Lt. Surge nodded with a satisfied smile as he saw the Trainers that were part of his Gym hard at work with their training. Gotta keep the skills sharp every day if they wanted to be the best. That was what he expected of those who were part of his Gym, and he was proud to say they'd kept up that standard.
The training session though was hit with a pause when he got a beep from the receptionist, saying that they had a challenger. When he looked to see who it was, he smirked a bit. "Visquez!" he said, causing the Raichu to stand at attention.
"Yes, sir?" she blinked.
"Looks like a certain Riolu is back for a Rematch. Think you're up to giving him another shot?" Surge smirked a bit.
Visquez blinked before nodding in determination. "I'll be sure to defend the Vermillion Gym once again, or failing that, go down fighting," she grinned.
"That's exactly what I want to hear. Hit the showers, we want you at top form when he gets in here," Surge ordered, to which she nodded and soon did as she was told.
XXXX
Ash entered the room where the Gym Battle would be held, Brock, Misty, and Charmander following after him while Pikachu was perched on his shoulder. Having already cleared the Gym Challenge, he didn't have to do it again. Either way, he was determined to win no matter what. "I'm here for my Rematch!" he declared, seeing Surge standing in the arena with his arms folded.
"Was wondering when you'd be back. Looks like losing to Visquez didn't do a thing to that spirit of yours. You got spunk, kid," Surge grinned. "Of course, you're not here to shoot the breeze, so I won't keep ya," he said as he went to the side, and Visquez took her place on the opposite side of the arena.
"You look like you've been training," Visquez smirked. "Don't think I'll be making this easy for you though."
"I'd be insulted if you did," Ash nodded with a determined look.
"Don't get too fired up. Remember the strategy you came up with and things will be fine," Brock encouraged.
"Yeah, win this match Ash and we can have the celebration on the Cruise!" Misty added, while Charmander cheered for him as well.
"Don't worry, we got this," Ash nodded, Pikachu giving a determined 'Pika!' as he pumped his paw.
"Alright, seeing as both sides are raring to go, let's begin!" Surge declared, to which Ash quickly got to his side of the arena while Misty, Brock, and Charmander went to the spectator area. "This time however, the match will be a little different from before! We'll begin with a Pokemon Battle, both sides allowed 2 Pokemon each, no substitutions! Following that will be a Dual Battle, one Pokemon only! Any objections?"
"Do you even have to ask, sir?" Visquez smirked.
"Those are fine by me," Ash nodded. Even if that meant he'd have to shift their strategy a little, it was nothing he couldn't handle.
"Then select your first Pokemon!" Surge declared, signalling the start of the match.
"Emolga, front and center!" Visquez said, calling out Emolga who looked ready and raring to go.
"Emolga again, huh?" Ash frowned. "In that case...Diglett, I choose you!"
Diglett soon emerged from his Pokeball, letting out a determined 'Diglett!'.
"Looks like you got a new Teammate," Visquez observed.
"I came here to win, and I took as many measures as I could," Ash smirked a bit.
"That's exactly what we like to hear from returning challengers," Visquez smirked. "So let's see what your new friend has! Emolga, Double Team!"
Emolga's body glowed as it seemingly split into multiple copies, all flying around in the air to confuse Diglett. Diglett sweat dropped, a little unnerved by the seemingly increase in number.
"Don't let the Double Team fool you!" Ash shouted, getting Diglett's attention. "Just hold your ground first!"
"Well if you're not attacking, then we'll attack first! Emolga, hit it with your Acrobatics!" Visquez ordered.
In response, the copies of Emolga glowed and suddenly flew towards Diglett...but that was exactly what Ash was waiting for.
"Evade it with Dig!" Ash ordered.
Diglett immediately went underground, causing Emolga to have to stop the attack short, leaving it hovering awkwardly near the ground.
"Now!" Ash shouted.
Diglett burst out of the ground, and rammed right into Emolga. Due to Type chart though, Emolga didn't take any damage from the attack, though the impact still pushed it back, leaving it reeling a bit from the sudden impact.
"Shake it off and use Air Slash!" Visquez ordered.
Emolga quickly stabilized itself, and glaring a bit at Diglett, formed a ball of energy and hit it with its tail, turning the ball into several blades of energy, but Diglett immediately dove into the ground again, the blades breaking apart against the ground harmlessly.
"Knock it out of the air! Rock Slide!" Ash ordered, Diglett resurfacing and creating a myriad of rocks that soon rained down on Emolga.
"Dodge it!" Visquez shouted, Emolga trying to do that, and while it evaded some of the initial rocks, more soon came, and as such Emolga couldn't evade all of them, and the rocks rained down, hitting Emolga. The rain of stone continued for a moment, but eventually ended, leaving Emolga shakily hovering in the air, before slowly going down and landing on the ground, groaning from the damage it just endured.
"Emolga, are you alright?!" Visquez gasped, seeing the state Emolga was in, to which the flying squirrel gave her the equivalent of a thumbs up. "Alright, get back in the air and let's start our counter!"
"Sorry but I'm not letting that happen!" Ash said. "Rock Tomb!"
Diglett popped out again and created a number of large rocks in the air, and not wasting time, he made them all fall, Emolga unable to evade and was soon trapped within the Rock Tomb.
"Now finish it with another Rock Slide!" Ash ordered, Diglett obeying and prepared for the Move once again.
"All or nothing! Hyper Beam!" Visquez shouted.
"What?!" Ash gasped.
Right as that happened, a powerful beam of energy shot out, breaking through the Rock Tomb and flying straight for Diglett...right as the Rock Slide was dropped. Two explosions occurred as the attacks hit, and when the dust cleared...both Pokemon were clearly unable to battle.
"Okay...not quite how I imagine the first round would go...but then I guess Lt. Surge doesn't trust you to take his place for nothing," Ash said, blinking in surprise before quickly checking to make sure Diglett was okay.
"I could say the same. Just one week and you come back with a way better game than before," Visquez chuckled lightly as she made sure Emolga was okay. "If this is how much you can grow in a week, you'll be fighting the Lieutenant in a few months."
"I'd like to imagine I could do that yeah," Ash chuckled a bit as they both returned their Pokemon. "Let's continue," he said, picking his next Pokemon. "Time for our rematch, Quagsire!"
"Looks like your Wooper's grown stronger," Visquez smirked. "Well then, let's show them we haven't been sitting on butts either! Pachirisu!"
Pachirisu soon appeared, and seemed raring to go as ever even despite seeing the opponent they lost to last time having evolved.
"Start by gaining an advantage! Agility!" Visquez ordered.
Pachirisu's eyes narrowed with determination as its body glowed and it started moving much faster, literally running circles around Quagsire.
"Follow up with Double Team!" Visquez added, to which Pachirisu was once again creating many copies of itself...more than the last time even, which was already quite a lot.
"Looks like you've been improving," Ash frowned, before smirking. "Good thing we came prepared! Quagsire, Muddy Water!"
Quagsire slammed her tail on the ground and a torrent of brown water emerged from a ring around her, hitting every last one of the copies that were present, and among them was the real Pachirisu, who shouted in pain as it was washed away by the attack. However, despite the damage, it quickly got back on its feet, ready to fight still.
"Don't give up! Use Swift!" Visquez ordered.
"Block it with Aqua Tail!" Ash countered.
Pachirisu fired its attack, the stars flying right at Quagsire, who's tail glowed and water flowed around it. Moving quickly she spun around and managed to block most of the Swift, even as some of the stars hit, but Quagsire pushed tanked the damage.
"Now bring the fight to Pachirisu!" Ash ordered, Quagsire quickly closing the distance and started slapping Pachirisu silly with her Aqua Tail.
"Quick Attack!" Visquez growled.
Pachirisu obeyed and started zipping around, looking for an opening, but…
"Muddy Water!" Ash ordered, Quagsire repeating the attack, and once again Pachirisu was hit by the AOE attack, sending it sprawling back.
"Let's end this! Mud Shot barrage!" Ash ordered, punching his fist forward.
Quagsire's eyes narrowed with determination as she took a deep breath and fired a barrage of Mud Shots all aimed right at Pachirisu. Pachirisu tried to evade, but it was too dazed to do so, and took most of the shots, taking massive damage, before falling on the ground, eyes swirly.
"And Pachirisu is unable to battle! The challenger wins!" Surge declared as Visquez recalled Pachirisu.
"Great job, Quagsire!" Ash grinned as Pikachu cheered, both of them going over and hugging Quagsire who smiled happily.
"Well, he's doing good." Misty said with a nod.
"Yeah, but now comes the tough challenge." Brock added seriously "We already know who he's using for this fight, and we can take a good guess at who Visquez will use as well. He's going to need to give it his 110%."
By their side Charmander didn't say anything, but kept his eyes on the fight, inwardly cheering them on.
Back in the arena, Ash had returned Quagsire and was now facing Visquez.
"You've really improved. Last time it was close, but this time you basically wiped my team out," she smirked a bit. "Just don't think that means you'll be beating me so easily."
"Wouldn't dream of it," Ash said with a determined grin as Pikachu jumped down from his shoulder, both looking ready to fight.
"I knew you'd pick Pikachu as your Pokemon here. That's why I'm choosing…" Visquez said before she held up a Pokeball and out came Raichu, looking more than ready to go.
"Both sides are ready. Now, let the Dual Battle begin!" Surge declared.
The moment he did, both sides charged forward.
Raichu went straight for Pikachu, who quickly evaded, Raichu soon chasing after Pikachu. At the same time, Visquez's tail glowed as she lashed out with an Iron Tail. Ash acted quickly and used Metal Claw to defend against the attack, though the force still pushed him back.
Digging his feet into the ground to stop the momentum, Ash quickly charged forward, a Power-Up Punch ready as he slammed it into Visquez who quickly raised her arms and blocked the attack, feeling the force go through her. However, she tanked it, and her cheeks started sparking.
Seeing that, Ash's eyes widened and quickly kicked her in the stomach, pushing himself back before the Thunder came down on where they had been.
On one side of the battle field, Pikachu and Raichu were in an Iron Tail battle as both of them were attacking and parrying each other with said move. The two soon got into a deadlock for a moment before breaking it, Raichu switching to a Mega Punch to try and knock Pikachu into next week, but Pikachu quickly used Agility and outpaced Raichu who growled and continued to try to hit the smaller Pokemon, but Pikachu kept his distance, managing to continue to outpace Raichu.
As the two Pokemon fought, their trainers were continuing their own struggle. Their fight had becoming an exchange of blows and kicks that they either blocked or tanked as they continued to try to wear each other down, before Visquez swung a Thunder Punch at Ash, who quickly avoided the attack, grabbing Visquez by the arm, avoiding where the majority of the electricity was focused and managed the pull into a throw, throwing her over his shoulder.
Visquez let out a surprised sound but quickly managed to roll back onto her feet when she hit the ground. "Alright, if that's how you want to play," Visquez couldn't help but smirk a bit, before she charged forward, aiming a kick to his side. Ash reacted quickly and blocked it by raising his leg. However, when the kick connected, a surge of electricity went through him, causing him to cry out in pain.
Taking advantage of that moment, Visquez shifted her position and grabbed his arm, and proceeded to try and grapple him while kicking his leg out from under him, causing him to lose balance.
Realizing that if he didn't do something quickly, he'd be losing this match really quickly, Ash focused his energy and made his next move...disappearing in a puff of smoke, leaving in his place a Substitute doll.
Visquez's eyes widened, but she quickly moved when she sensed something coming up near her back, and managed to block a Force Palm that came her way, even if the force pushed her back. She was about to regain her bearings before Ash pressed the assault, going at her with several Power-Up Punches, forcing her to keep up her guard, but the damage was starting to build up until she roared and let loose a powerful Thundershock that caught Ash mid-strike causing him to shout in pain and have to back off.
"Heh, not bad. Last time that move lost you the match. Looks like you've got it working this time," Visquez smirked a bit.
"I didn't spend the last week training as hard as I could just to lose the same way as before," Ash chuckled lightly before both charged at each other again.
As that was happening, Pikachu and Raichu were...okay, it was less fighting and more Raichu getting increasingly frustrated as it tried to hit Pikachu, but the smaller Pokemon kept evading. Even using Electric attacks weren't doing much as Pikachu was fast enough to keep evading as well. Pikachu stopped for a moment, panting a little, but inwardly smirked when he saw Raichu looking more worn out than he was.
It seemed their strategy was working. In their last fight, they noticed Raichu hadn't used any of its speed moves, and when Ash remembered that Visquez HAD mentioned that Raichu was very eager to evolve. That led to them formulating an idea, and one that seemed to be accurate. In evolving too fast, Raichu didn't learn the speed moves that it normally would learn naturally, and that would be the ace Pikachu needed to win this rematch. With that in mind, Pikachu took the opening and surged forward, mixing Agility with Iron Tail, and started slapping Raichu silly, while quickly backing off the moment Raichu recovered enough to counter attack, and the process soon repeated, with Raichu trying and failing to catch Pikachu.
The fight between Ash and Visquez on the other hand was more even as Visquez did not have an easily exploitable weakness compared to Raichu. "Your Pikachu's doing surprisingly well by itself," Visquez smirked a bit.
"I could say the same about Raichu. I'm guessing it's the type that doesn't need you to tell it what to do," Ash shot back, before charging forward and delivered a Force Palm which Visquez managed to block, before she countered with Thunder Punch that Ash was forced to block as well due to being too close.
Ash grit his teeth as he felt the electricity flow through him, but managed to focus energy for a Low Kick and slam it into Visquez's gut, throwing her back. Even so, Ash fell to a knee, panting from the electricity, while Visquez got to her feet, holding her gut.
"You've definitely gotten stronger," she smirked a bit. "But it won't be enough," she said, taking a deep breath, before focusing her energy, charging up electricity and focusing it into her hands which soon joined together into a large sphere of electricity. "Just so you know, I don't do this for just ANY challenger!" she said with a smirk, albeit one that showed that she acknowledgement.
At the same time Raichu saw its trainer about let loose the attack, realized that if Visquez was going all out, it was only right that it did the same too. Charging up all the electricity it had left, it looked at Pikachu and prepared to let loose.
"This is it!" Visquez roared as she fired a massive blast of electricity at Ash, at the same time Raichu let loose a MASSIVE bolt of electricity, the force being so strong that several windows were blown out by the combined pressure, Ash and Pikachu seemingly both engulfed in the respective attacks.
Everyone was forced to shield their eyes, some even ducking for cover in the stands to avoid any stray electricity.
"Are Ash and Pikachu gonna be okay?" Misty couldn't help but gulp as she peeked her head out from where she'd ducked for cover. Being a Water-type, she did NOT want to get hit by any of that.
"I can't tell, there's too much dust!" Brock frowned, having only needed to block his eyes from the bright light and dust.
The dust slowly started to settle...revealing Ash standing with his arms held before him, a Protect raised up before him, while Pikachu held on to him, balancing on his tail. Both were panting a bit, but they clearly had some good fight left in them.
"What?!" Visquez gasped in alarm, but as she tried to get into a ready stance, she felt her limbs grow heavy. At the same time, Raichu got in front of her, trying to muster up another shot...but only a few sparks flew from its cheeks.
"Looks like that last attack really did decide the match," Misty couldn't help but chuckle a bit at what happened. A common weakness of Electric-types was that their bodies could only produce so much electricity within a certain amount of time. Use it all up, and they were basically out of the fight, since that was tied to their stamina too.
Ash and Pikachu realized that too and didn't hesitate to take advantage of the opening, Pikachu charging forward with Agility and soon reached Raichu, before slapping Raichu silly with his Iron Tail, ending with a spin and strike that sent Raichu flying right out of the arena.
"Raichu!" Visquez gasped...right before Ash reached her, and focusing the same energy of a Force Palm, but into a fist...prepared for an uppercut, which soon found its way to her chin, sending her flying out of the arena too, landing next to her partner, both of them no longer having the energy to fight.
"And the match is over! The challenger wins!" Lt. Surge declared, though he didn't seem particularly disappointed. How could he after he'd witnessed a match like that?
Despite how tired they were (and being a more than a little battered and bruised in Ash's case), Ash and Pikachu still managed to raise an arm each in victory, one that tasted sweeter thanks to the struggle it took to reach it.
XXXX
And done. After training and preparations, Ash was able to earn the Thunder Badge, and bring himself one step closer to entering the League Tournament. His Pokemon Journey is far from over and he'll keep striving to go far every step of the way.
No Retold File this time. I've been busy, so I didn't have the time to think up another entry, but I will be sure to make another one eventually. Until then, I hope you continue to enjoy the story.
One more thing, as of recently this story has gained a TV Tropes page. It's still small, but I hope there will be much support for the page.
