Hey all and new chapter here. Thanks for all the support so far, I have some fun ideas for the next few chapters so be prepared for that.

CH 11, The Art of Battle

Artazon Gym

Ash and Brassius stood on opposite ends of the battlefield, finally ready for their battle. Iono stood on the sides, her recording set-up going as she streamed the battle live for her fans. Arven was seated near her, helping her moderate the stream chat.

"Now then folks I know you are all ecstatic but keep the comments civil or I'll time you out." Arven could not believe that she had managed to rope him into being her chat mod, yet here he was doing it.

"This should be interesting,"Iono said to the chat,"Ash has Charcadet so he is already at a major advantage over Brassius' Grass types."

"Remember type advantages are not everything Iono."

"I know yeah, but it still is a major help for Ash here."

"Brassius, I was waiting for this battle!" Ash exclaimed excitedly.

"I was as well, I am looking forward to seeing your art in action,"Brassius responded,"make sure to put on a good display for me."

"Oh don't you worry I plan on doing that yes."

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

Petilil you're up!"

"Let's go Charcadet!"

Brassius had been counting on Ash leading off with a Fire. Flying or Ice type. The gym leader already had a plan on how to deal with the type disadvantage.

"Charcadet start with an Ember!" Charcadet blasted a wave of fire at Petilil, which moved out of the way.

"Sleep Powder!" Petilil hit Charcadet with a sprinkling of powder that put Charcadet to sleep.

"Already, Characadet wake up!"

"Petilil U-Turn!"

Petilil hit the sleeping Charcadet before returning to Brassius and bringing Sudowoodo out. Ash had to admit that it was an excellent strategy. Brassius obviously knew that he'd lead off with a Pokemon that could easily handle Grass types, so he had a way to immobilize it and then get his Pokemon back to safety. Sudowoodo was also a good choice thanks to being a Rock type, the only real way to deal with a Rock type was Pikachu's Iron Tail. Though he didn't want to bring Piakchu out this early, he was his current ace in the hole after all.

Ash was already in a tough spot, on one hand he could stick with Charcadet and hope to Arceus that he woke up, but it would leave him open to attack. On the other hand he could switch to Finizen but there was another issue. Sudowoodo was a Rock type, but a Grass gym leader was using it. Ash realized this likely meant that his Sudowoodo was a Grass Tera Type and thus Finizen would be in trouble. However, this gave him a chance to get Brassius to use his trump card early. He decided to go for it.

"Charcadet return,"Ash said recalling him,"Finizen I choose you!"

Brassius had anticipated this and was ready on his end,"Sudowoodo, Terrastilize!"

Like Ash had anticipated Sudowoodo had become a Grass type. It was exactly what he had wanted. Per gym challenge rules, Brassius wasn't allowed to swap Pokemon and you could only Terrastilize once per match.

"Sudowoodo, Razor Leaf"

"Finizen use Ice Beam!" Ash was prepared for this match-up and had counters ready to go. The blast of ice broke through the leaves, freezing them and hitting Sudowoodo, though it shook it off easier than Ash had expected.

"Rock Throw!"

"Shoot down the rocks with Water Gun!" Finizen shot down the rocks like he was at a shooting gallery at the local carnival.

Amidst the flying debris of the rocks Brassius used it as his chance, "Sudowoodo, Trailblaze!" Sudowoodo charged straight into Finizen and thanks to the Tera boost and the type advantage, managed to one shot him.

"Finizen is unable to battle, the winner is Sudowoodo!" Ash had known he was taking a risk, but ultimately it paid off, Finizen was able to get Brassius to play his trump card early. He took one for the team and Ash was not about to waste that.

"Thanks for your help Finizen,"Ash said recalling him,"Charcadet you're up next!"

Brassius had anticipated this. Though he had half expected Ash to recall Finizen. "Rock Throw!"

"Charcadet jump onto the rocks,"Charcadet hopped into the air landing on a flying rock before jumping between them getting closer to Sudowoodo,"Fire Spin!" Once Charcadet was close enough he blasted Sudowoodo with fire, enveloping it in a fiery vortex.

Sudowoodo was trapped, unable to escape the flames. When they finally dissipated, it was pretty hurt, despite still being Terrastalized. "Sudowoodo, Stone Edge!"

"Charcadet dodge it!" Charcadet dodged the attack. While Charcadet dodged, Sudowoodo returned to normal, which he had been waiting for. Ash recalled Charcadet and sent out Sprigatito now that Sudowoodo was back to being a Rock type.

"Sprigatito use Energy Ball!"

"Sudowoodo Stone Edge!"

The two attacks clashed but Sp;rigatitos attacks broke through, hitting Sudowoodo head on. The attacks sent it sliding back, still conscious but just barely. It was more resilient than Ash had expected. Perhaps being Terrastalized improved its resilience.

"Sudowoodo use Magnitude!" Ash knew what was coming was unpredictable, the strength of Magnitude was always random. He had to hope it would turn out to be a weak one. THough he had an idea.

"Sprigatito use Energy Ball!" Brassius assumed Ash was trying to take Sudowoodo out before the Magnitude hit, but he was surprised when Ash had Sprigatito jump onto and ride the Energy Ball. The Magnitude turned out to be decently strong, but as Sprigatito was riding their airborne Energy Ball, the attack missed its target.

Sprigatitop continued to hitch a ride on the attack until it got close enough. Sprigatito jumped off as the attack hit Sudowoodo. "Razor Leaf!" Sprigatito added a flurry of leaves on top of the prior attack, this time being able to knock his opponent out.

"Sudowoodo is unable to battle, the winner is Sprigatito!"

"Well that was an unexpected strategy I must say,"Brassius said recalling Sudowoodo,"I must ask Ash, you baited out my Tera Pokemon did you not?"

"I did yes, but wait did you know the whole time?"

"Unfortunately I did not, I only realized it once I knocked Finizen out. It was too late by then, well played I must say. However, I'm not out just yet, Petilil return to the field!"

Ash was in the home stretch now, while he was also down one Pokemon, Charcadet could easily win it for him. But he didn't want to swap out yet to give Sprigatito his chance to shine. He did know now that he needed to watch out for Sleep Powder, he wanted to avoid a repeat of earlier.

"Sprigatito use Hone Claws!" Sprigatito sharpened his claws, growing in strength in the process.

"Petilil Sleep Powder!"

"Sprigatito blow it back!" Sprigaito took a deep breath before exhaling and blowing the powder back at Petilil.

Brassius had certainly not expected that, that much was evident by the bewildered expression on his face. Petilil was enveloped by its own attack, promptly falling asleep as a result.

"Follow it up with Bite!" Sprigatito attacked the sleeping Petilil and knocking it out thanks to being powered up.

"Petilil is unable to battle, the winner is Sprigatito!"

"Valiant effort Petilil, get some rest,"Brassius said recalling his Pokemon. Brassius was down to his last Pokemon, he knew his chance of winning was very slim. Perhaps if he had recognized Ash's ploy earlier he could have won it, for now he just would have to make do with what he had left.

"Smoliv it's up to you!"

"Sprigatito let's keep it up!"

"Smoliv Growth!"

"Sprigatito Hone Claws!" Both sides powered up, getting ready for the final clash.

"Smoliv Razor Leaf!"

"Sprigatito charge through!"

Sprigatito charged through the leaves, not taking much damage from them,"use Bite!" Sprigatito broke through the attack and lashed out at Smoliv. The attack had been powered up enough to one-shot Smoliv.

"Smoliv is unable to battle. Brassius is out of usable Pokemon,therefore the winner is the challenger Ash!

As they celebrated Sprigatito began to glow as he evolved into Floragato.

"Oooh Arven you got that on camera right?"

"Yes Iono I was streaming everything."

"This'll make a kick-ass video later."

Later:

Brassius, Ash and the others had returned to the art gallery at the leader's request. He had given Ash his badge before walking them back over. The group were standing in front of the blank canvas that had been set-up for Ash earlier.

"Thanks to that battle, I have my inspiration for my next piece."

"It'll be based on our battle I guess?"

"It will yes, it'll take some time to complete but when it's done I want you all to come back and see it."

"Oooh we totally will, maybe I can stream its grand debut."

"I'll take you up on that Iono."

"So champ what's next on your agenda?"

"I plan on helping a friend with some business,"Ash answered before turning to the others," you both wanna tag along?"

"Iono might but I can't, I have business to attend to in order to prepare for our next Titan hunt."

"I'll tag along Ash, don't want you to go it alone."

"Well then Ash, good luck in your future gym battles, I'll get in touch when the piece is done.

Earlier that day elsewhere

The Rocket trio was at the end of their wits, their earlier plan to nab some Pokemon failed and they were almost out of money. The three were currently holed up in an abandoned house they had stumbled upon.

"Alright so we're almost out of money and have no real plans,"Jessie said sadly as the three sat in a small kitchenette.

"Headquarters is ignoring us and da boss don't even care enough to call us,"Meowth added with a sigh,"what da heck are we gonna do?"

"We need money."

"We need food, we got none."

"James you have any ideas?" Jessie asked him as he had been rather quiet.

"Podcasts,"was all he said.

"What?" Both Jessie and Meowth asked unsure of what he was talking about.

"You remember that pink and blue hair girl the twerp was with?"

"Yeah, but what's that gotta do with anything?"

"I looked into her, she's apparently the biggest streamer and online content creator in Paldea."

"Okay so what's that got to do with us?"

"We start doing the same, doing podcasts and stuff,"James answered,"people can donate money to us."

"How da heck are we supposed to even afford da equipment?"

"Don't worry Meowth, I have a favor I can call in."

"What are we going to even do, Team Rocket isn't exactly a good organization,"Jessie reminded him.

"People here in Paldea have no clue what Team Rocket is,"James reassured her,"people who were watching the stream of that aquatic race thought we were hired entertainment. It'll be safe for us, trust me."

"If ya ask me this is your stupidest plan yet."

"Oh come on Meowth, this is our chance to be known for something positive for a change. We could be the first Rocket members to become famous streamers."

Jessie sighed,"alright let's give it a shot."

"Well if you're on board then why not, I'm in"Meowth agreed.

"Oooh yes, I'll get on with getting our equipment then." James was very excited, this was the change he wanted.