Ch 6 Bugging Out

Ash, Arven and Iono were currently set up in the Southern Province on their way to Cortondo. Ash was off training with his Pokemon while Arven stayed back at camp. He had gotten dragged into Iono's morning vlog so he wanted some alone time. He was currently writing in his journal, a rough draft for his eventual book.

"Oooh whatcha doing Arvy?" He hated that nickname. He had told Iono to not call him that, call him Arven or even Arve, just not Arvy. The gym leader had seemingly no limit to her energy, she was always running around like a hyper-active child on an eternal sugar rush.

"I'm working on a rough draft of my book,"he answered, not even looking up from his writing,"emphasis on the rough draft part."

"Ohhh that's totes awesome, can I read it?"

"No you cannot."

Iono pouted,"aww why not?"

"Like I said it's a rough draft, it's not ready for people to read it. I told Ash the same thing when he asked the other day."

"Aww pretty please?"

"I said no"

"Why not Arvy?"

"Again it's nowhere near ready for people to read."

Unable to take no for an answer, Iono opted to snatch the book from him.

Arven began to chase Iono around, who was reading as she ran from him.

"Oh come on I just wanna give my advice!"

"I said no reading!"

Arven continued to chase Iono but she was too fast for him, he had no clue she was so agile. Iono gleefully ran from Arven as he chased her around. She had been really interested in what he had written and she couldn't take no for an answer. However, to her dismay, it was quite boring.

"Bleh this stuff is boring!" She groaned as she tossed the notebook back at Arven.

"What do you mean it's boring?" Her comment bothered him, yes it was a rough draft but he put a lot of work into it.

"It's not fun to read,"Iono answered as she stopped to catch her breath,"it's so dry and has no flair. It's like you're reading the notes for a school lecture."

"You think it's boring?"

"Kinda yeah, is this for other academics or your average people?"

"Uh well I was hoping everyone could enjoy my work."

"That ain't gonna happen with it like this fam,"Iono said shaking her head,"your average reader is gonna lose interest real quick. There are far too many big technical terms and not enough pictures."

While he did appreciate feedback, it wasn't what he had been hoping to hear. He had just been writing as it came to him, he hadn't thought of how complex it was. Perhaps she had a point, he hadn't really thought of a target audience, he just knew he wanted to publish something.

"Well then what do you suggest I do?"

Iono thought for a moment before she got an idea,"how about I become your editor!"

"Wait, you have experience in this?"

"Not one bit," she answered excitedly.

Arven sighed,"then why would you offer?"

"Well for one I like helping my friends and two it could be a new skill to add to my repertoire."

Arven had to admit there was an upside to her proposal. Iono had a huge following which meant she could both easily promote his work and get feedback on it. Her lack of experience was a problem, but then again he wasn't an expert either. Plus if they are traveling together anyway he'd have plenty of time to get her help.

"I suppose we could give it a try, any help is better than none."

"Ooh yes and don't ya worry, I won't share anything about your work till it's ready to go public."

"Alright good I appreciate that,"Arven thanked her,"now then did Ash say how long he'd be? We should try to get to Cortondo before nightfall."

"Oh yeah we aren't that far now, he didn't say how long but I can go ask him."

Iono headed off to go and find Ash. He had wandered off earlier to explore and find a good secluded spot to train. She had to discuss their next video anyway, along with the idea she had for a podcast. Perhaps she'd have Arven join them for that podcast, she figured he could maybe get something out of it for his book.

She'd eventually find Ash not too far from their camp, working with his Pokemon in a small wooded area. He had asked her to not stream his training and she wasn't about to break that promise.

"How's it going over here?"

Ash was slightly startled by Iono's sudden appearance,"it's going good, we've been making progress on some new moves recently. Is there something you needed?"

"Oh no, Arven just wanted us to make sure to reach Cortondo by the evening."

"Did he want to head out now?"

"He did yes, but I have an idea for when we reach Cortondo."

Ash recalled his Pokemon as the two headed to meet back up with Arven.

Cortondo

The trio had just arrived at their destination and Iono had already started to drag Ash around. He had wanted to head straight for the gym but Iono already had other ideas. She said it was for a new video but had chosen to not tell him exactly what it was. He could tell she was excited, though she was already always pretty excited.

Iono dragged Ash through the streets of Cortondo until she stopped at her destination. It was a small ice cream stand. Ash could only assume this was the point of her video idea.

"What are we going to be doing here?" Ash asked Iono.

"Just wait and see," she answered as she started talking quietly with the ice cream vendor. Ash couldn't hear what she was saying so he just opted to wait and see.

Iono returned a few seconds later as she pulled out her equipment and began to record."Hey everyone, Iono here with a new video along with my partner in crime!"

Ash waved to the camera as it panned to him,"um hi everyone, glad to be here again."

"We're here in Cortondo and I got the inspiration for a quick and fun video,"Iono pointed to the ice cream stand behind them,"we're gonna try every flavor but with a fun twist. We're gonna put a single scoop of every type of ice cream in a single cone!"

"Wait every scoop in one cone?"

"That's right champ, I'm calling it the Tower of Ice Cream challenge. We'll each get one tower and see who can finish theirs first!"

This sounded like a bad idea to Ash, surely eating that much ice cream so quickly was asking for trouble. However, he knew there was no talking her out of it. Once she had her mind set on something, that was it.

"Now for today's question, I want you all to leave your answer in the comments section. The question is whether or not it's ethical to eat a Vanillish!"

"Wait what?" Ash asked as the vendor handed them both a tower of ice cream scoops. Pikachu got one too, but only three scoops.

"So how will this work you may ask? Ash and I are gonna see who can finish their tower the fastest. The loser will have to do a dare on our next live stream!"

"Iono, are you sure this is a good idea?"

"Of course it's not a good idea. However that's what makes for good content, people wanna see others doing questionable stuff, this is how you get all the views. The worse the idea or the more controversial it is, the more attention we get. You gotta shock the people, make them question your sanity. People like seeing other people act stupid, that's why all those prank channels are so popular. It's just a prank bro they yell out as they do dangerous stunts, yet it gets everyone talking. You and I are gonna make top-tier content, we're gonna get top-tier sponsors, Raid Shadow Legends will have no place in the Iono Zone, we're gonna get the Pokemon League to sponsor our content! We're gonna blow this platform right open and dominate the entertainment business!"

Her sudden and long-winded rant now over, Iono began to devour her ice cream tower which Ash begrudgingly followed. The two quickly devoured the ice cream, with Iono finishing first. The pair looked at each other with a smile before it set in.

"Dear Arceus, my brain!" Iono dropped to the ground clutching her head and rolling around.

"I told you this was a bad idea…"Ash groaned as he held his head.

"I take that back no more dangerous stunts, this was so not worth it…"Iono trailed off as she buried her face in the ground.

"What on earth are you two doing?" Arven had returned to find Ash and Iono in misery.

"Too..much..ice cream…too…cold…" Ash groaned as it felt like his brain was frozen.

"Let me guess this was Iono's idea?" Pikachu couldn't help but laugh at their predicament as he ate his ice cream.

"Ugh…it was…yes" Iono moaned, still rolling on the ground.

"Well I'll be waiting for you both at the gym when you two are recovered."

Later

Ash and Iono had recovered and uploaded the video to her channel. The two were now headed to the Cortondo gym. Arven was outside waiting for them.

"So Ash, do you know how gyms in Paldea work?" Iono asked as they stopped in front of Arven.

"Isn't it just like a three-on-three battle?"

"Yes but there's a Gym Test first."

"A test?"

Arven nodded," yeah that's standard here, the leader will ask you to complete a challenge before they'll battle you."

"Don't worry fam,"Iono reassured Ash,"they aren't that difficult. Us gym leaders just wanna get an idea of the challenger's determination before we battle them."

"Would you be able to tell me what the challenge is Iono?"

"Nope I cannot, us ladders aren't allowed to divulge that information. They change the tests every now and then actually."

"Oh so it may already be different from the last time you saw it?"

"Exactly yes,"Iono nodded,"besides it's no fun if the challenger has inside information."

The trio entered the gym and walked over to the receptionist behind the counter. The main lobby was rather empty aside from them, perhaps Ash was the only challenger for the day. Ash walked up to the counter, getting the woman's attention.

"Hello, are you here to request a gym battle?"

"I am yes,"Ash answered,"there's some sort of a test first right?"

"Exactly and I'm afraid your status does not exempt you from the initial test."

"You know who I am?"

"Of course, all the gym leaders knew you were here, even before you were first on stream with Iono."

"That makes sense, so what's the test?"

"You'll find that out when you get to the site of the test, it's not far from here just outside of town."

The receptionist handed Ash a map which he tok,"the circled area is where the test is?"

"Correct, one of our attendants will be waiting for you. Upon completing it they'll send you back here, that's when you'll meet with the gym leader."

"Don't worry Ash, the tests aren't usually that difficult, just think of it as a warm-up before the gym."

The three left the gym and headed towards the place marked on the map. True to the map the location was just outside of town. Walking through an open gate they found themselves in a giant open area and what looked like a massive olive.

The gym attendant walked over to Ash,"for this Gym Tst you'll have to push this giant olive from the start to the goal."

"Whoah how'd you get the olive to be so big?" Ash asked as he stared at it in awe.

"That information is a secret I'm afraid. Just know that it is much lighter than it looks. If the olive goes out of bounds at any point you will need to restart from where you started. Finally you have to do this alone, neither your friends nor your Pokemon are allowed to help."

"That seems simple enough,"Ash said as Pikachu hopped off his shoulder. Iono and Arven stood back so they could watch Ash.

Ash began to roll the olive around, finding it was really light as the official said. He figured it may not be a real olive to begin with. The goal was pretty far off as he rolled it along and he was still unsure what the point of this was. Perhaps he could ask the gym leader after their battle. Ash continued to roll the olive, having a few close calls till he reached the half-way point. While it wasn't heavy, it was more tiring than he had anticipated. Fortunately for him the goal was in sight.

He slowly pushed the olive along till he crossed the goal line. Air horns went off signaling the end as the olive stopped.

"Congrats on completing the test, with that you can now face the gym leader."

Ash and the others re-entered the gym to find the leader Katy waiting for them.

"I suppose it should be no surprise to see you here, Champion."

"That test was certainly not what I was expecting,"Ash said as they shook hands.

"You'll have to get used to that, we do things here in Paldea very different,"Katy added as she looked towards Iono,"oh so you're traveling and streaming with him?"

"Correctamundo, I'm gonna get a lot of great content this way."

"Well that sounds exciting, feel free to stream this gym battle Iono."

"Oh don't worry Katy, that was my plan all along."

"Well then I hope this battle is great for your stream numbers.

Ash and Katy headed down to the battlefield as Arven and Iono headed for the stands. Arven took a seat as Iono fired up her stream and began to record the battlefield.

"This will be a three on three battle, only the challenger can switch Pokemon. The first trainer to knock out all the opponent's Pokemon will be the winner. Battle begin!"

"Nymble let's go!"

"Finizen, I choose you!"

Ash figured she'd be expecting a fire or flying type from him so he figured he'd take her by surprise.

"Nymble Double Kick!"

"Finizen dodge and use Water Gun!" Finizen dodged the attack as he blasted Nymble with water. Nymble jumped in the air dodging the attack.

"Good dodge now use Agility!"

Nymble began to speed around trying to give Finizen the slip, but Ash was prepared. "Finizen Counter-Shield!"

Katy was surprised as Finizen began to spin around blasting water around. The Counter-Shield let Finizen easily hit Nymble, sending it flying back.

"No way that was the Counter-Shield!" Iono was busy going crazy in the stands along with the stream chat.

"That certainly is not a tactic I've ever seen before,"Arven said caught off guard,"but you recognize it Iono?"

"Sure do, he used that against the Sinnoh Champion Cynthia in the Master's Eight semi-finals,"Iono answered with excitement,"see that stream chat, our world champ is showing off his greatest strengths, creativity and unpredictability!"

Katy was impressed, she had heard from others that the world champ was pretty inventive but seeing it first-hand was very different. She knew she had to be on her toes. "Nymble use Trailblaze!"

"Finizne Aqua Jet!"

The two clashed with each other, trying to push the other back,"Nymble now Double Kick!"

Nymble bounced off and went to kick Finizen,"Quick block it with your tail!"

Finizen blocked Nymble's attack with his tail before swatting it back. The action sent Nymble flying back and into the wall, knocking it unconscious.

"Nymble is unable to battle, the victor is Finizen!"

"Way to go Finizen!"

"Good effort Nymble, take a long rest,"Katy said recalling Nymble,"Tarountula it's your turn!"

"Finizen let's keep going," Ash said, sticking with his first Pokemon,"start it off with Aqua Jet!"

"Tarountula Sticky Web!"

Tarountula shot a series of webs at the charging Finizen, stopping him in his tracks as he was webbed to the ground.

"Finizen try to break free!" Finizen tried to break free but was unable to.

"Tarountula use Bug Bite!" Tarountula attacked as Finizen was helpless.

"Try and break free Finizen!" Finizen struggled against the webs as Tarountula continued to attack,"Finizne slam your tail down!"

Finizen slammed his tail down hard, the force of the impact making him bounce up and breaking the webs.

"Tarountula quick use Struggle Bug!"

"Finizen Water Pulse!" Finizen hit Tarountula with a ring of water, knocking it out.

"Tarountula is unable to battle, the winner is Finizen!"

"Finizen good work now return."

"You as well Tarountula,"Katy said recalling it,"you're up last Teddiursa!"

"Charcadet I choose you!"

Ash was a bit surprised by the Teddiursa, considering it wasn't a bug type. He remembered, however, that Terastilization could change a Pokeon's type. He figured it must have a Bug Tera-type. He just had to watch out for whatever moves it knew.

"Charcade Flame Charge!"

"Teddiursa dodge it with Dig!" Teddiursa burrowed underground to dodge the attack.

Charcadet looked around trying to see where it would re-emerge,"Keep your guard up Charcadet."

Keeping his guard up, Charcadet was able to sense Teddiursa and dodged the attack in time as it re-emerged from the ground. "Charcadet Fire Spin!"

Flames enveloped Teddiursa, swirling around it in a fiery vortex,"Teddiursa come back,"Katy recalled Teddiursa as she prepared to Terastalize it.

"Charcadet, let's go for it too,"Ash said doing the same.

"Terastalize!" Both sides Terastalized their respective Pokemon. Teddiursa re-emerged as a Bug type while Charcadet remained a fire type.

"Teddiursa Fury Swipes!"

"Charcadet dodge it and use Flame Charge!" Charcadet dodged the attack and charged back at Teddiursa.

"Teddiursa dodge it and use Tera Blast!"

"Charcadet use Tera Blast too!"

The two blasts clashed with each other, with Charcadet's attack easily overpowering Teddiursa. The blast broke through and hit Teddiursa head on knocking it out.

"Teddiura is unable to battle, the winner is Charcadet. The victor here is the challenger Ash!"

"Way to go Charcadet!" Ash shouted as they celebrated.

"Excellent with Ash," Katy said walking over to him,"and here is your badge for winning here."

Ash accepted the badge as Iono and Arven joined him on the field.

"Well there you have it stream chat, that's the first badge in the bag. I hope you all enjoyed today's exciting stream. Make sure to subscribe to my streaming channel, the VOD will be up later today. Until then take care and have fun out there!"