He barged through the doors of the gym, face split in a huge grin. "I challenge the Gym Leader!" the boy declared.
Except it was not a gym.
The customers and servers looked back at Ash, who now felt his face burn from embarrassment. He turned around and glared at the snickering boy who guided him here. He was rushing away.
"May we help you?" one of the waiters, the one with green hair, asked.
"Sorry about that. My name is Ash Ketchum and this boy told me this was the gym" Ash explained lamely, his face still burning red.
The waiter chuckled.
"He was not wrong" the waiter stated. He snapped his fingers and the lights dimmed. Three spotlights shone down from the ceiling, falling on each of the three waiters.
Ash shielded his eyes with how bright the lights were and how close he was to the green-haired waiter when the light shone down on him.
The three waiters walked synchronously into an empty area and took up a pose.
"I am Cilan," said the green-haired waiter.
"I am Chili," said the red-haired waiter.
"And I am Cress," said the blue-haired waiter.
"And we are Les Maîtres du Trio, the brothers who own Maison du Trio!" all three of them said in unison.
"We are," said Cilan.
"Also the," added Chili.
"Striaton Gym Leaders!" finished Cress.
The wall behind them recedes, revealing a rocky field for battle.
Ash stared in awe at it all.
"You may now choose who you wish to challenge," Chili said with a grin.
"Choose?" Ash asked.
"It's how the gym works. You choose one of us to battle and must defeat us to earn the trio Badge" explained Cress, holding up said badge.
"You have Chili and his fire type Pokemon, Cress and his water type, and then finally me with my grass type" Cilan added. "So go ahead and choose!"
"Can't I challenge all three of you?" Ash asked.
The trio looked at him with surprise.
"We've never had such a request" Cilan confessed. He turned around with his brothers and the trio had a small discussion. They all turned and smiled at Ash.
"You may" Chili spoke. "It will be a three-on-three battle, where the one with two wins will be the winner. We will alternate and use only one Pokemon, so to keep things fair you must use one Pokemon for each of us and not reuse it for the other. No switching will be allowed or healing in battle."
"I accept!" Ash grinned.
The trio smiled back and led Ash toward the battleground.
"Are all the gyms in Unova like this?" the trainer from Pallet asked.
"Not all, but you'll find some of the gyms being integrated into some sort of other business. Like ours with our restaurant and then Lenora with her library."
"Lenora is?"
"The second Gym Leader. You'll be going to her after you've dealt with us."
"But don't think you'll have an easy time with us though" Chili cut in with a grin.
"I wouldn't expect anything less" Ash grinned back.
Ash took his place on the battleground and the Gym Leaders their place on the opposite end.
"I'll be your first challenge!" Chili stepped forward, rolling his right arm while holding onto his Pokeball. He threw it in the air and the Pokemon burst forth in a bright beam of light.
Pansear, the High Temp Pokemon. When it is angered, the temperature of its head tuft reaches 600 F. It uses its tuft to roast berries.
"A fire type" Ash grinned and sent his first Pokemon out, his Oshawott.
Oshawott started the battle with a tackle, sending Pansear flying into the air. But it lands softly on its feet and charges with a Fire Punch. Oshawott grabbed it scallop and blocked the move with Razor Shell. Both Pokemon jump back before charging with the same moves once more, exchanging blow after blow. Pansear switched halfway to using both hands for Fire Punch, but Oshawott countered deftly with Razor Shell.
After watching the fight between Pikachu and Dewott, Oshawott had been eager to improve his skills with his scallop, pushing Ash to focus only on his training while they traveled to Striaton City. He'd been paired up against Pikachu and his Iron Tail, Deerling and her Bullet Seed, Pidove and her Air Cutter, and Sandile and his Stone Edge. Each move was different, but each one helped Oshawott hone his scallop-wielding skills. And the results were showing in how deftly he was handling the onslaught of fire punches.
Pansear switched tactics and jumped back while using Flamethrower to propel him backward. Oshawott countered with Water Gun and cancelling the fire type move.
"Not bad" Chili smirked, calling for Pansear to use Dig.
Pansear dug into the ground and Oshawott was quick to blast the hole with Water Gun. He probably remembered his battle with Sandile and how he had countered the Pokemon's Dig. Pansear was spat out of the ground before it came crashing down.
"Pansear is no longer able to battle! The winner is Oshawott!"
Chili sighed as he called his Pokemon back, while Oshawott puffed his chest out with his hands on his hips and showed just how proud he was of his victory.
"My turn" Cress spoke as Chili made his way back and Ash called Oshawott back, much to his displeasure. The Pokemon wanted to go on.
The cheerleaders on the rafters began cheering for Cress as he made his way to the battleground, making Chili roll his eyes. He took out his Pokemon and sent his Pokemon out to battle.
Panpour, the Spray Pokemon. The water stored inside the tuft on its head is full of nutrients. Plants that receive its water grow large.
Pikachu's cheeks sparked and he jumped into battle before Ash could think about who to use. No loss there, Ash would have gone for Pikachu anyway.
The battle began with Pikachu using Quick Attack. Cress reacted quickly, telling Panpour to use Double Team and stop Pikachu's attack. The Pokemon created multiple copies of itself and surrounded Pikachu, who stopped and looked around in confusion.
"I have studied your battle style. You will find that your style of offensive battling will not work against my Panpour" Cress declared, to the cheering of the cheerleaders.
Ash only smiled in reply.
"Pikachu, Counter Shield!"
Cress and his brothers stared in confusion, unaware of any move by that name. This was why Cress and Panpour were caught by surprise when Pikachu began spinning on the spot and shooting electricity like a tidal wave all around him. The clones got dispelled and Panpour was hit by a strong current of electricity.
"That is a very creative way of using Thunderbolt, almost like a Shock Wave but stronger. I have misjudged you, Ash" Cress said with a smile. "But I'll have you know, I can deal with that too! Panpour, Mud Sport!"
Panpour's hand began glowing as it too spun on the spot. Suddenly mud came flying from it, covering the entire field in it.
"You'll find that your electric attacks will not work as well now" Cress smirked.
"That's fine. Pikachu has more than just electric type moves" Ash declared.
Pikachu used the rock formations to charge at Panpour with Quick Attack. Panpour used Water Gun to stop Pikachu's charge but the electric mouse's speed was too much for Panpour and it was not able to aim as well at the moving Pokemon, who jumped from one rock formation to the other at random with no real set path.
Pikachu got behind Panpour with his superior speed and Ash called for a Volt Tackle. The boost from the Quick Attack and the speed from Volt Tackle made Pikachu's movements almost invisible to the naked eye. He hit Panpour from behind and the two crashed into the rocks and Pikachu jumped back, sparking from the recoil damage. Panpour slipped down from the crater and slumped to the ground.
"Panpour is no longer able to battle. The winner is Pikachu!"
Pikachu grinned and jumped back to Ash.
Cress sighed and called back Panpour with a defeated smile.
"You've defeated two of the three Gym Leaders and according to our agreement have won the Gym Challenge. Would like to battle me still? A loss to me won't mean that you'll not get the badge" Cilan asked.
"I'll battle" Ash smiled. He needed to see this to the end.
One of Ash's Pokeballs opened and Tepig shot out of it. He looked back and gave Ash an almost pleading look.
Ash gave a nod and Tepig turned back forward to his opponent, Cilan, who had switched places with Cress.
"I will not go easy on you Ash" Cilan declared, sending his Pokemon out for battle.
Pansage, the Grass Monkey Pokemon. This Pokémon dwells deep in the forest. Eating a leaf from its head whisks weariness away as if by magic.
Tepig flinched at the menacing glare Pansage sent it, but he quickly recovered and puffed a small flame out of his nose.
Tepig charged using Tackle, which Pansage sidestepped with ease, to the surprise of Tepig. The Pokemon had expected a more aggressive retort from it by the glare Pansage sent him at first. Pansage used Bullet Seed while Tepig was still caught by surprise, making the Pokemon roll forward and crash into the wall.
"You and Tepig are not as in sync as you and your other two Pokemon were" Cilan commented with a soft hum. "Allow me to show you what perfect Synchronicity looks like! Pansage, Bite!"
Pansage charged, jumping around to dodge Tepig's Ember much like Pikachu had against Panpour. The Grass Monkey Pokemon bit Tepig on the head, making the Pokemon panic and run around.
"Calm down Tepig!" Ash called but the Pokemon kept running around blindly until it crashed into a rock.
"Tepig Ember!" Ash called.
Tepig shook his head before shooting his move. Much like before, Pansage dodged it with ease by jumping from rock to rock, before slamming into Tepig with Fury Swipes. It then grabbed Tepig by the tail and swung him around, slamming him on the ground and the rock a few times before throwing him back to Ash's side. Tepig struggled to stand, before slumping forward.
"Tepig is no longer able to battle. The winner of this match is Pansage!" Cress declared, to the cheers of the girls.
Ash walked closer to Tepig as the Pokemon struggled to his feet. He closed his eyes when he saw Ash, expecting him to snap as Shamus did on him.
Instead, he felt a comforting hand on his head.
Tepig opened his eyes and saw Ash crouching before him.
"It's just a loss. I promised you that we'll become a strong team, and I intend to keep my word. We'll train hard together, okay?"
Tepig stared at Ash with wide eyes, before they teared up and he jumped into Ash's arms.
Maybe he did have a shot at becoming strong after all.
The name of the restaurant and the title of the Striaton Gym Leaders are made up. They call themselves Connoisseur so I gave the name and title a very matching vibe to that. Canonically the name and title not existing felt like a missed opportunity to me so-