Time for Chapter 29 and someone from Ash's past comes back.
Current Teams
Ash – Pikachu, Lucario, Gardevoir, Eevee (Eve), Eevee (Vee), Jolteon, Magby, Elekid, Ponyta
May – Blaziken, Glaceon, Mawile, Litwick, Flaffy, Spoink, Beautifly, Cubone
Chapter 29
Flowering Reunion
After waking up Ash and May exercised in a semi-awkward silence as they still tried to come to terms with how their friendship had changed due to May's confession. A couple of times Ash would start to reach towards May when her balance started to fail her in an attempt to steady her but hesitate for a second before making contact with her. May noticed his nervousness but chose to ignore it, letting Ash take things at his own pace. Once they'd finished their exercises, had eaten their breakfast and got changed they quickly packed up their campsite before starting making their way once again to Celadon City.
They'd been travelling for an hour before Ash was stopped by a passing trainer who wanted a one on one battle, passing his bag to May, Ash stood facing his opponent.
"I'm Ash from Pallet Town." The raven-haired trainer said.
"My name's Zyon and I'm from Jubilife City." Zyon stood a little taller than Ash at just over six foot, he had blonde hair that reached his shoulders, wore a grey hoodie and grey pants with a black backpack hanging from his shoulders. A bandolier stretched across his chest holding his Pokéballs in place, Zyon let his backpack slide off his shoulder and down his arm before placing it on the ground, he took a Pokéball from his bandolier and enlarged it. "Let's kick this off, go Electivire." Throwing his Pokéball into the air it snapped open, releasing the large yellow and black electric type. Electivire's tails whipping around as he was ready to battle. Ash thought about the Pokémon he had with him for a second before smiling as he took one of his Pokéballs from his belt.
"I choose you, Jolteon." He said, Jolteon landed gracefully on the ground after exiting the Pokéball in mid-air and ran back to Ash, rubbing against his leg. "Jolteon we've got a battle to win, we'll play later okay." Jolteon yipped in acknowledgement before running back to the makeshift battlefield, her fur bristling as sparks crackled at the spiked tips and she growled lowly. Her battle persona was drastically different to her usual playful and carefree nature.
"Electivire, Thunderbolt." Zyon called out, the Thunderbolt Pokémon let loose a blast of electricity towards Jolteon, who just stayed where she was letting it hit her. The attack was soon absorbed and Jolteon shook herself off as if nothing had happened.
"Volt Absorb." Ash said after seeing the look of confusion on Zyon's face. The blonde responded by telling Electivire to use Fire Punch, the electric type ran forward with his fists shrouded in flames. "Dodge it and use Pin Missile." Ash told Jolteon, a smirk crossed Jolteon's face as she ran disappearing in a flash leaving a small cloud of dirt drifting in the air. Using his Aura Ash tracked where Jolteon was, it was the only way to follow her when she ran, the electric Eeveelution moved much too quickly for the eye to follow. Ash sensed Jolteon quickly closing the distance between herself and Electivire before dropping low to the ground skidding between the Thunderbolt Pokémon's legs. Digging on of her front paws into the dirt Jolteon managed to spin herself around so she was facing Electivire's back letting the fur on her hindquarters bristle at the same time. Once she was in position Jolteon unleashed a volley of bright white needles of energy, the needles peppered Electivire's back as they made contact. Jolteon kept firing as Electivire turned around to face her and as he ran towards her again she stopped her attack before disappearing again only to reappear in her original place in front of Ash waiting for the next command.
"Keep using Thunder Punch on yourself." Zyon said to his Pokémon, May was momentarily confused as she watched Electivire beat his chest with electricity covered hands until Lucario told her that the most common ability for Electivire was Motor Drive. That was the reason that Ash hadn't used any electric type attacks against Electivire. Ash just watched calmly as Zyon's Pokémon increased his speed. "Now Ice Punch." Electivire ran forward at a speed like Jolteon's with an icy blue fist pulled back.
"Dodge, full speed." Ash said, Jolteon's only acknowledgement was the fact that she completely disappeared, not even a cloud of dust to show which direction she went in. "Jolteon is my fastest Pokémon, the speed you just saw is what she's really capable of. Now full speed Quick Attack." Electivire was struck from behind, then the left, then the right, he was being hit from all sides nearly all at the same time Jolteon's speed was that great.
"Whip your tails!" Zyon shouted, Electivire started to spin his tails around trying to ignore the pain of the near constant attacks from his speedy opponent. The Thunderbolt Pokémon whipped his tails out randomly in an attempt to hit Jolteon, after few tries Electivire got lucky and managed to catch Jolteon in the side sending her tumbling across the ground causing dust to rise from the ground each time she hit it. "Now Flamethrower then get in close with a Fire Punch." Electivire let a blast of fire fly from his mouth as he ran towards the downed Jolteon at the same time flames licked at the air around his flaming fists.
Jolteon rolled to dodge the Flamethrower but as she was getting to her feet a burning fist crashed into her side which sent her sprawling again. This was bad for Jolteon her defences weren't as strong as they were in other Pokémon, that's why she had worked on her speed so much, her defence was her speed but right now she wasn't being given enough time to get her paws under her to use that speed. Watching as Electivire got closer Jolteon had an idea and pounced at the Thunderbolt Pokémon. Electivire was surprised at the sudden movement and stopped his approach, Jolteon quickly clambered up the larger Pokémon before jumping off his head and landing in front of Ash looking a little healthier than before. The Lightning Pokémon yipped a few time and readied herself for the rest of the battle, Ash shrugged and decided to ask what Jolteon had done after the battle was over.
"Hidden Power." Ash called out, Jolteon's eyes and body briefly glowed red before a cluster of red balls of energy circled her body with a sharp bark the red balls shot forward slamming into Electivire's body. Jolteon didn't stop at one volley though she kept launching cluster after cluster of Hidden Power at her opponent keeping him off balance. "Shadow Ball." Jolteon added a sphere of black energy that crackled with what looked like purple electricity to her Hidden Power attacks.
"Discharge, block those attacks." Zyon said. Electivire roared as he sent out a wave of electricity, Ash smirked and made his move.
"Jolteon intercept that Discharge." The Lightning Pokémon pounced straight into the path of the Discharge attack, absorbing all the electricity and replenishing her health at the same time. She dropped low to the ground as her attacks closed in, letting them pass above her and continue their way to Electivire.
"Flamethrower." Zyon countered quickly after seeing his last attack fail, Electivire breathed out a stream of fire that detonated the incoming attacks causing a cloud of smoke to cover the middle of their battlefield. Once the smoke cleared both electric types could be see breathing heavily, though Jolteon was in slightly better shape she was still very tired from using her full speed for as long as she did, her stamina was a work in progress. "Giga Impact." Electivire bellowed as he formed a sphere of purple energy around himself, as he ran forward streams of yellow energy started to spiral around the sphere. Thanks to Motor Drive and its speed boost, Electivire covered the distance between himself and Jolteon quickly. Due to her tiredness Jolteon wasn't able to dodge as quickly as usual, the powerful attack clipped her as she dove to the side sending her into a sprawling roll. Ash knew that he had to act quickly as Electivire was going to be incapacitated for a little while as he recovered from using Giga Impact.
"Jolteon, Pin Missile." The Lightning Pokémon who had been lying on her side rolled onto her front and raised her hindquarters before launching volley after volley of glowing white needles. The needles were focussed onto the circle pattern on Electivire's back as if it was a target board. "Now use Signal Beam." A ball of white energy formed in front of Jolteon's open mouth and fired out a rainbow coloured beam which fused with the Pin Missile attack changing the white needles into multi-coloured ones giving more power to the attack. Electivire started to turn around as the downside of using Giga Impact faded, his fists burst into flames once again as he stalked towards Jolteon. The electric Eeveelution decided to change her target to the black circle between Electivire's eyes as the larger Pokémon picked up speed and got closer at a quicker pace, one of his burning fists held up to block the attack.
As Electivire got within punching distance of Jolteon he started to sway from side to side before falling backwards at the same time that Jolteon collapse. Both Zyon and Ash stood staring for a few seconds before walking towards each other, Zyon returned his Electivire as Ash picked up Jolteon whispering his thanks to her.
"I guess it's a draw then." Zyon said holding his hand out to Ash. The raven haired trainer made sure he had a good hold on Jolteon before shaking Zyon's hand.
"Guess it is. Your Electivire's really strong." Ash replied.
"So's your Jolteon, not to mention fast. How did she get that sort of speed?"
"Just lots and lots of training with my other Pokémon, she can't hold her top speed for long but we're working on that." Ash and Zyon talked for a couple of minutes before saying goodbye. Zyon kept making his way to Saffron City while Ash and May stopped for a few minutes so they could heal Jolteon. It turned out that when Jolteon had clambered over Electivire she had managed to siphon off some of his static electricity to heal herself a little bit. After the Lightning Pokémon healed enough they carried on their way to Celadon City, they made light conversation as they walked. Ash kept Jolteon in his arms as they travelled, May was talking about the type of Contest Appeals she'd been thinking of so she could get her next Ribbon. A small smile was on the brunette's lips as she saw the way Jolteon was rubbing against Ash's chest. An hour later Ash and May had made it to the suburbs of Celadon City, returning Gardevoir and Jolteon to their Pokéballs Ash, May, Pikachu, Glaceon and Lucario (who had refused to enter his Pokéball) took a quick bus journey into the centre of the city getting off outside the Pokémon Centre.
Getting off the bus Ash reached to take May's hand, hesitated, then pulled his hand back. May's confession was still making things awkward for him, he didn't want to do anything that could make May think he'd worked out how he felt when he hadn't. The brunette in question had noticed Ash's hand about to take hers then move away, May mentally sighed waiting for Ash to decide was harder than she thought but she wouldn't force him to make a decision.
They went into the Pokémon Centre, passing their Pokémon over to Nurse Joy and asking for a room to stay in. As Nurse Joy's Chansey took their Pokéballs Ash and May quickly went to their room and put their bags inside before returning to the main desk for their Pokémon. Ash decided to send his two Eevee back to the lab and asked for Pikachu's Pokéball as well as his back up for this battle in case Magby and Ponyta were having trouble in the Gym Battle. Ash had wanted to go straight for to the Celadon City Gym for his next badge but somehow May convinced him to go shopping with her first, a perplexed Ash followed May around as she scoured every corner of every shop that caught her eye trying to work out how she'd done it. They went into clothes shops, shoe shops, bag shops, accessory shops, every kind of shop imaginable that Ash didn't want to be in but May refused to let him stand outside so Ash was left watching May flit back and forth between shelves and racks as something new grabbed her attention. He also had to give her his opinions on the clothes she picked up and then again as she tried the clothes on. By the end of the day Ash was carrying all of May's bags, except for her handbag, as his manners wouldn't allow him to let May carry everything by herself, they were making their way back to the Pokémon Centre to put May's purchases in their room before going to find somewhere to eat. May started to veer off course towards one final shop, Ash followed her change of direction out of habit now more than conscious decision and they both went inside. A small bell rang as they entered, Ash's head snapped up and his eyes flicked around the shop floor, he knew this place the smell, was what had brought him to his senses. Looking to his shoulder Ash saw a smirk on Pikachu's face, the mouse knew where they were too and seemed to be enjoying the uncomfortable feeling that radiated from Ash.
"I'll be with you in a moment." A polite female voice called from the backroom.
"It's okay, we're just looking around." May replied as she browsed the shelves looking at all the bottle of perfume, occasionally picking one up to smell it. After a few minutes a woman with chin length blue hair came on to the shop floor, she was wearing a yellow floral kimono with a red sash around her waist and a red hair band. The woman had dark green eyes and very pale skin, Ash knew who this woman was the second he'd entered the shop. This shop was owned and run by Erika, the Celadon City Gym Leader, and Ash dreaded the thought that she was going to recognise him. During his travels since his first visit to this particular Gym he'd made Brock promise not to mention the circumstances that he'd used to gain entry to the Celadon City Gym, so May, Max and Dawn didn't know and hopefully would never know, it was bad enough they'd seen him wearing a dress already to find out he'd done it before meeting them would make everything worse.
"Good afternoon, my name is Erika. How can I help you?" The grass type Gym Leader asked May with a bow, Ash had kept his face hidden from the direction of the backroom as soon as he realised where he was so Erika hadn't seen his face.
"I'm just looking right now." May replied, "Where do you get all these perfumes from?"
"I make them myself, with help from my Pokémon of course. Is there any particular type of fragrance you are interested in?"
"Do you have anything that smells like tulips?" Erika thought for a second before nodding.
"As a matter of fact we do, that request is a refreshing change, most people ask for roses." Erika walked out from behind the shop counter and took a long necked bottle from a nearby shelf handing it to May. "Is this gentleman with you?" Ash had to resist the reflex of looking up as Erika said that.
"Oh yes, Ash is with me." May said as she sprayed a little of the perfume onto her wrist before smelling it, Ash cursed silently when May said his name. Erika looked at Ash seeing Pikachu on his shoulder and the unruly black hair, a smile crossed her lips as she walked towards him. The blue haired woman stopped in front of him and lifted his head up so she could see his face, her smile turned into a grin.
"Hello again, Ashley."
"I'm sorry you must have me confused with someone else." Ash said in a blatant attempt to try and avoid the upcoming conversation.
"Do you really think I'd forget the person who saved my Gloom?" Erika said, "Or the person who used some very unconventional methods to have a Gym Battle with me?" The grass type Gym Leader raised an eyebrow at her last question. Ash sighed, knowing there was no way he was going to get out of this.
"Alright, it's me. Nice to see you again Erika."
"It's nice to see you again too Ash, I take it you're here for another Gym Battle or have you come to insult my perfume again?"
"A Gym Battle." Ash replied with a cringe at the jab at his mistake in the past, while Ash and Erika had been talking one thought had been going through May's head.
"Ashley?" May asked, drawing attention to herself. Erika raised an eyebrow again and looked at Ash.
"You haven't told her?" The Gym Leader asked, Ash shook his head with pleading eyes. Erika walked up to May and was about to speak when the door to the backroom opened again. A girl came onto the shop floor carrying a large cardboard box filled with perfume bottles.
"Miss Erika, where would you like me to put this box of Cerulean Soul?" The girl asked, she had brown eyes and long brown hair under a white hat which was ringed with a red ribbon, a half Pokéball decal sat at the front. She was wearing a pale teal and black vest top, a red skirt went down to just above her knees and a pair of white trainers finished off her outfit. The girl put the box on the counter before looking around the shop floor. "Oh I'm sorry, I didn't know you were with a customer." When the girl's eyes landed on Ash they widened, as did Ash's. The raven haired trainer quickly put May's bags down and moved into the main aisle of the shop knowing what was about to happen, a split second later the girl had vaulted the counter and tackled Ash to the ground. "HUBBY!" She squealed as she hugged the winded Aura Guardian.
"Hubby?!" May and Erika said as they looked at each other wide eyed before looking back to the pair on the floor.
"It's nice to see you too Leaf, now get off me." Ash said.
"No, I haven't seen you in years. I'm making up for all the hugs I haven't had." Leaf replied, leaving Ash lying in the middle of the floor waiting for Leaf to decide when she'd had enough.
"What's going on?" May asked, walking towards Ash.
"May, Leaf. Leaf, May." Ash waved his hand back and forth between the two girls. "Leaf's an old friend, she became a Pokémon Trainer the same day I did." Ash explained. "Can you help me? Please?" He pleaded. May nodded and tried to pry Leaf's arms away from the young Aura Guardian but was having trouble due to her having an unbreakable grip on him.
"Lauren Elizabeth Alice Fiona Green, remove yourself from the customer at once." Erika said in a calm yet stern voice, in a flash Leaf had removed herself from Ash and was now standing three feet away from him as if nothing had happened. "Now apologise and explain yourself."
"I'm sorry." Leaf said with a bow, "Ash and I are old friends, it's been years since we last saw each other. I was just excited to see him again."
"Why did you call him Hubby?" May asked after she'd helped Ash to his feet. Ash stood behind May trying to stop Leaf explaining but a glance from Erika told her to tell the truth.
"When we were kids, we used to play family. I was the wife and Ash was the husband, Gary never played with us so it was just me and Ash." May looked back at Ash who nodded in confirmation.
"I never really had a choice, Gary could run faster than me." Ash said. "Leaf was a good cook back then though so I didn't mind that much."
"I'm still a good cook!" Leaf said crossing her arms over her chest and looking away from Ash. May smiled and walked towards Leaf.
"I know Ash introduced us before but let's do this properly. I'm May Maple." May said holding out a hand towards Leaf. "I met Ash in Hoenn when I started my journey and we've been friends since."
"Nice to meet you. Lauren Green, call me Leaf. I've known Ash since…well since we were born basically." Leaf replied taking May's hand, giving it a shake.
"Well, seeing as everyone here knows each other now, I can tell the story of when Ash first came here." Erika said, Ash started to edge his way to the door but Erika saw him and acted quicker than he could. "Leaf, you can continue to hug Ash now." The brunette grinned and tackled Ash to the ground again, Erika stepped around Leaf and Ash so she could reach the door. She locked the door and flipped the sign around to show the shop was now closed. Making her way back to the shop counter Erika took a breath before starting her story. "It all started when Ash and his friends came into this shop….."
A few minutes later May and Leaf were on the floor, well Leaf was on Ash, laughing so hard tears rolled down their cheeks. The thought of Ash wearing a dress was so funny they were having a hard time breathing and Ash was stuck lying on the floor as Leaf was still hugging him while she laughed.
"Lucario, a little help here." Ash said, Lucario's eyes lit up a light blue as he used Psychic, the same coloured energy that was in the Aura Pokémon's eyes appeared around Leaf and prised her from Ash's body. The raven haired trainer stood up, brushing dust from himself. "Thanks….Er,… Can you keep hold of her for now?" Lucario nodded as he held Leaf in mid-air. It took a few more minutes for Leaf and May to get a hold of themselves and stop laughing.
"Ash, I never knew you were into that sort of thing." Leaf said, "I've changed my opinion of you now."
"Well, you're the same as ever Leaf. Crazy." Ash replied, Leaf pouted and struggled against the Psychic hold Lucario had on her.
"Can you let me down now?"
"Are you going to behave?"
"Of course." Leaf said with a sweet smile.
"I know you too well to believe that." Leaf pouted again, Ash was right not to believe her of course but she had to try. May wiped a few stray tears from the corners of her eyes and turned to the Aura Pokémon.
"Lucario, please let Leaf go." She said, Lucario nodded and the blue energy that filled his eyes faded.
"No, Don't!" Ash shouted but it was too late, the energy holding Leaf in place disappeared and the Pallet Town brunette shot towards Ash again. She closed the distance between them in seconds only to bounce off a blue shield that materialised in front of Ash.
Ash was now hiding behind a shield of Aura, he hadn't wanted to reveal his abilities but he'd been left with little choice.
"Ow." Leaf groaned as she hit the floor. "What is that?"
"An Aura shield, the only way I'm going to be able to protect myself from your Tackle attack." Ash explained.
"How can you do something like that?"
"Let's just say I'm special and leave it at that." Ash replied, he knew better than to think that would dissuade Leaf's need to know everything and was saved when someone else spoke.
"I see Sabrina was telling the truth about you. She said there was something special about you." Erika said.
"Sabrina told you I was coming?" Erika nodded before answering.
"She sent a message to all of the major Gym Leaders, you made quite the impression on us when we first met you." Erika smiled at the slightly shocked look on Ash's face. "Sabrina told us that we'd be getting a visit from you sooner or later."
"So about that Gym Battle…." Ash said.
"Tomorrow, it's getting late and I've already had to battle three other trainers today. My Pokémon are tired and I want to give you my best."
"I wouldn't have it any other way." Ash replied, he picked up May's bags and looked to the brunette. "Ready to go?"
"I just want to buy some perfume then I'll be finished." May said holding up the bottle that Erika had shown her earlier.
"Leaf, please serve the customer and give her the store discount. I need to talk with Ash privately for a minute." Erika said taking Ash's arm and pulling him into the backroom.
As Ash entered the room he saw the room was filled with flowers and the equipment needed to distil the fragrance from the flowers. Erika guided him through the room stopping at a row of small purple flowers.
"Sabrina is a close friend of mine, she has been since you healed her mind. I was the first person she reached out too, probably because all the other members of the main eight Gym Leaders were male at the time and Misty's sisters aren't the type of people Sabrina could get along with. She told me about your ability to use Aura and what Aura can do, I was hoping you'd be able to help me with this." Erika gestured towards a small plant that was withered and close to dying. "This is Laurus In Gloria, Laurel of Glory. It is a very rare flower which produces a beautiful perfume but it is very hard to care for. I was careless and now it's dying, Sabrina told me that Aura is life energy I was hoping that you might be able to do something that could save this flower."
Ash put May's bags down again and looked at the flower carefully.
"I've never done anything like this before but I'll try my best." Ash said, he cupped his hands over the flower and let his Aura collect in his palms for a minute before sending it into the flower. For a few seconds nothing happened but slowly the browning leaves regained their original vibrant green and the withered petals whitened. The rejuvenation process took a couple of minutes and when Ash was finished the shrivelled plant had been replaced with a small bush with white flowers surrounded by green leaves forming a horseshoe shape. "There, done." Ash said wiping the back of his hand across his forehead to get rid of a small amount of sweat from the effort. "I think it should be okay now." Ash paused when he saw the expression on Erika's face. "Is everything alright? Did I mess it up?"
"No, no you didn't do anything wrong." Erika leaned forward and smelt one of the flowers. "You've actually made a new species of flower. Erika moved to a nearby shelf and pull off a book, as she walked back to Ash she flicked through the pages. "Here is Laurus In Gloria." She said showing him a picture of the plant. "Now look at the one on the bench." Ash looked between the picture and the plant in front of him.
"I don't see the difference."
"The one you just saved has a blue ring at the base of the petals now, I can only assume that your Aura has done it. I think we'll call it Fraxinus Lauros, Ash's Laurels. What do you think?"
"I think it's perfect." A voice said from the doorway, Ash and Erika turned around and saw May standing there.
"That settles it then, Fraxinus Lauros it is." Erika said, "Now if you excuse me I have a brand new perfume to distil." The grass type Gym Leader ushered Ash and May back onto the shop floor, forcing Ash to grab the May's shopping bags quickly, an excited smile graced Erika's lips as she looked forward to the work she was about to do. As they walked back into the main floor Leaf was knelt down stroking Glaceon's fur as she commented on the ice type's cuteness. "Leaf, I think it's time to close the shop for the day. I'll see you tomorrow." Leaf stood up and bowed to Erika.
"Are you sure you don't want me to stay and help Miss Erika?"
"It's perfectly alright Leaf, I can manage by myself. You've been working very hard lately so go and relax."
"Hey why don't you come with me and Ash?" May suggested. "It'll give you and Ash time to catch up, plus I want to hear any stories you have about Ash when he was little." Leaf and May shared a devious grin.
"That sounds like fun and I have plenty of stories to tell, as long as you tell me stories you have about Ash." Leaf said, a mischievous glint in her eyes.
"Deal."
"Erika, can I stay and help you?" Ash pleaded, dreading the evening ahead.
"Sorry Ash but I won't be needing any help this evening." Erika replied, Ash hung his head.
"Okay, I'll see you tomorrow." Ash walked towards the door and opened it as he waited outside for Leaf to get her things before she exited the shop arm in arm with May. They made a quick stop at the Pokémon Centre to put May's bags in their room and Ash let Gardevoir out of her Pokéball to get a little fresh air. When Ash asked Gardevoir if she wanted to stay out of her ball while they went for dinner she declined and opted to return to her ball, she didn't want to be out surrounded by all the people or stay in the room. Leaf had Ash and May follow her to a nice restaurant she knew of that allowed Pokémon inside, when they got there they were seated quickly and given menus. While they were choosing their food May started to tell Leaf about her time travelling with Ash, when May had finished a quick summary of their journey around Hoenn and Kanto they had ordered their food and sat waiting for it to be prepared. Leaf started to tell stories of when she and Ash were children, sensing this could end badly for him Ash tried to divert the conversation.
"Hey, Leaf do you know what happened to Terry?" He asked. Leaf looked thoughtful for a minute before answering, while Leaf was thinking Ash explained to May that Terry was the other Trainer that started on the same day as him from Pallet Town.
"I don't, his parents get letters and phone calls every so often but I don't think they've actually seen him for a couple of years. He didn't make it to the Pokémon League, I think he only got 5 badges." Leaf said. "I haven't actually seen him since we all set off on our journeys. It was the same with you until today, your mom kept everyone up to date with how you were doing though. We all heard how you earned your places in Johto, Hoenn, Sinnoh and Unova as well as winning the Orange League and being the first person to beat the Battle Frontier. Did you really beat a Darkrai and Latios?"
"In Sinnoh, yeah I did. Took my whole team to do it though. I've beaten an Articuno and Regice too."
"Yeah, of course you have."
"I did."
"And I believe you." Leaf said sarcastically.
"He really did, I saw him do it both times. Ash's Charizard beat Articuno for his first Battle Frontier Symbol and Pikachu beat Regice for his last Symbol." May said in Ash's defence.
"Prove it." Leaf said challengingly.
"Alright." May retorted and accessed the internet on her X-Transceiver, she quickly booted up the Trainer's Database before holding her arm out to Ash. "Log in to your account." She said, Ash did as he was asked entering his username and password (once he remembered them). May brought her arm back and scrolled through a couple of screens, she shuffled her chair round next to Leaf's and pointed at the screen. "Here you go, Knowledge Symbol awarded, Trainer – Factory Head Noland, Pokémon defeated – Articuno." May moved down the screen and pointed out another entry. "Brave Symbol awarded, Trainer – Pyramid King Brandon, Pokémon defeated – Dusclops, Ninjask, Solrock and Regice."
"Okay, I actually believe you now."
"Pikachu actually beat Regice on his own." May added. "I have the recording of the battle here if you want to see it." Leaf stared at the small yellow Pokémon that sat on the floor next to Ash wondering how he'd been able to defeat a Legendary Pokémon on his own. Charizard she could understand, a fully evolved fire type against an ice type was an advantage even against a Legendary Pokémon but the small electric mouse, that was a real surprise.
"What are you doing in Celadon City?" Ash asked Leaf, snapping her out of her daze.
"I want to specialise in grass type Pokémon so I came here and asked Miss Erika for help. I became one of her Gym Assistants and I work in her shop like the other assistants, I've been here for three years now. I never made it to the Pokémon League, I got all eight badges but I didn't enter, I wanted to get stronger first so I stayed home and trained. Like you I travelled to other regions and caught more Pokémon, I did try the Sinnoh League and Johto League though. I did the best in Johto and came in the top 8, it was a different time then when you competed in it before you ask." Leaf said.
"Why do you want to specialise in grass types?" May asked
"Most of the Pokémon I've caught are grass types and I understand them better than other types."
"It fits your name too." Ash added, earning himself a swat on the arm from Leaf. "What it does."
Their waiter came over with their food as well as food for Pikachu, Glaceon and Lucario. They ate in silence for a couple of minutes enjoying the tastes of their meals before Leaf broke the silence.
"So that shield thing you did." She said to Ash, "How did you do it?"
"I told you I'm special." Ash replied.
"That's not an answer."
"Yes, it is."
"No, it's not.
"Is."
"Isn't."
"Is."
"Isn't."
"Is."
"Isn't."
"Is."
"Come on Ash, you can tell me." Leaf pouted. "We used to be so close, you can trust me."
"Alright I'll tell you, Lucario did it." The Aura Pokémon's head jerked up at the mention of his name. "Lucario made the shield."
"What about Miss Erika saying the Sabrina said you there was something special about you?"
"Sabrina must've meant the way Ash's Pokémon care about him." May interrupted when she saw Ash was struggling for an answer. "They're willing to do anything for Ash, Lucario making a shield is nothing." Leaf looked at Pikachu and Lucario who both nodded in confirmation of May's statement, the Pallet Town brunette shrugged as she accepted the answer and went back to her meal.
"So what's going on between you two?" Leaf said as she put a forkful of food into her mouth. Ash and May jerked at the sudden change in the conversation.
"What do you mean?" May asked.
"Oh come on, I'm not blind. You two are a couple right?"
"Well, sort of, you see…." May started before Ash interrupted.
"We're still trying to work out what we are." He said. "Hey, isn't that Gary?" Ash added pointing out of the window.
"Gravy! Where?" The Pallet Town brunette said, her head snapping round to look out the window. "Hey, you can't distract me that easily….What were we talking about?" Ash and May laughed, the rest of the meal was filled with stories of their adventures and embarrassing tales from Ash's childhood, including a fake wedding that Ash and Leaf had because Leaf wanted it to be authentic when she and Ash played family. "Thinking about it that would make you the Mistress." Leaf added, but a look of confusion came to her face as Ash and the Pokémon started to laugh.
"They're laughing because Ash's Pokémon call me Mistress May." May explained with a blush.
"How do you know that?"
"Ash has this ability to understand everything that his Pokémon say and he told me." They talked for a while longer before May remembered something Leaf had said a few minute later.
"Why did you say Gravy instead of Gary?" May asked.
"For some reason when I was a kid I always called Gary, Gravy. I've no idea why I did but the name kind of stuck." Leaf explained. May nodded in understanding and they went back to their meals.
Once they finished their food and Ash paid the bill the trio walked through Celadon City with Pikachu, Glaceon and Lucario following behind them. Leaf and May tried to get Ash to go with them into a club so they could dance but he managed to resist their suddenly increased strength as they pulled at his arms. Ash reminded them he had a Gym battle the next day and he needed to be fully prepared for it, which included a good night's sleep.
They did make him promise to take them dancing after the Gym Battle though, Ash did try to resist but was assaulted with two pairs of puppy dog eyes and his resolve quickly crumbled. After walking Leaf to her apartment, Ash and May started on their way back to the Pokémon Centre. Leaf had offered to let them stay with her but the pair declined seeing that there wasn't much room in her place and all their things were at the Pokémon Centre. When they returned to the Pokémon Centre it was late so Ash and May got changed and after letting Gardevoir out of her Pokéball they all went to sleep.
The next morning Ash and May woke early and went about their usual routine, getting changed into their exercise clothes and going out to one of the Pokémon Centre's training fields to do their exercises and practise their self-defence techniques. Once they'd finished Ash and May returned to their room to get ready for the day, May used the bathroom first while Ash ran through his memory of the first Gym Battle he'd had with Erika, at least the part before the Gym went up in flames.
After they'd had their breakfast and Ash had his chosen Pokémon checked by Nurse Joy, he and May made their way to the Gym. It had changed a lot since Ash had last seen it, previously it was a circular building with a roof that looked like the flower of a Gloom. Now however it looked like a giant greenhouse, hundreds of plants could be seen inside in all the colours of the rainbow and many others.
As Ash and May walked up to the doors, one of the doors opened and a girl with blonde hair stepped out.
"Boys aren't allowed in this Gym." She said crossing her arms across her chest and blocking the doors.
"Ash has a Gym Battle against Erika today, he needs to go in." May said, "Erika's expecting him."
"Of course she is, I've heard that before. Just go to another Gym." The blonde said sarcasm heavy in her voice.
"She's telling the truth, Hayley. Let them in." A voice said behind Ash and May, turning to see spoke for them they saw it was Leaf. The Pallet Town brunette was walking towards them carrying a large box, Lucario met Leaf halfway and took the box out of her arms. "Oh, thank you Lucario." Leaf added, Lucario nodded in acknowledgement.
"But Leaf, you know the rules…"
"And you know that I wouldn't say that if it wasn't true." Leaf kept walking forward until she was in Hayley's face. "Do you remember the story Miss Erika told everyone about the fire that destroyed the last Gym, Ash is the one that ran into the fire and rescued Miss Erika's Gloom. He is allowed into the Gym and he will have a battle for the Rainbow Badge….Am I clear?"
"Yes." Hayley said quietly, lowering her head not able to meet the challenging fire in brunette's eyes, and stepped out of the way, Leaf walked past her and opened the door.
"Come on through, I'll take you to Miss Erika." Leaf said to Ash and May, they walked into the Gym followed by Lucario and Glaceon. Leaf entered after them and looked back at Hayley. "I know Miss Erika sent everyone a message about Ash coming for his Gym Battle today so we'll have a nice long talk about this later." Leaf let the door close behind her, leaving Hayley outside wearing a look of worry and slight fear. During her time at the Celadon City Gym, Leaf had quickly risen to the Head Gym Assistant and looked to be the person to take over the Gym if Erika ever wanted to resign.
Leaf sped up her walking speed until she was in front of Ash and May, she got one of the other Gym assistants to take the box from Lucario and led the group through the Gym. As they walked through the abundant foliage Ash let Gardevoir out of her Pokéball, knowing that the Embrace Pokémon would enjoy the beauty of the Greenhouse. As soon as she came out Gardevoir took Lucario's offered arm and followed their trainer while looking at all of the beautiful flowers surrounding her. A few minutes later they found Erika, she was wearing another kimono this one a soft green with small white flowers around the bottom and ends of the sleeves. Erika was watering some of the plants and didn't notice Ash, May, Leaf and the Pokémon approach.
"Miss Erika." Leaf said, getting the Gym Leader's attention, Erika turned to them and smiled. "Ash is here for his Gym Battle." Leaf continued with a small bow.
"Good morning." Erika addressed the group, they all replied in kind. "Oh, I have something here for you." Erika put the watering can down and reached into one of her sleeves, pulling out a small vial. She passed it to Ash, he looked at the glass and uncorked it smelling the fluid contents. "It's the perfume from the plant you helped me with last night."
"It's nice." Ash said passing the vial to May to let her smell the perfume.
"Nice? Ash, this is amazing." May said with a shocked smile, the fragrance was the most beautiful thing she'd ever smelt. "Can I buy a bottle?" May passed the vial on to Leaf, the fellow brunette smiled at the scent and handed the vial back to May.
"Not just yet. That's all I've managed to distil so far, I need to grow more before I can make enough for sale. You can keep the sample though." Erika said to her and May put the vial in her bag. "Now shall we have our battle?" Erika asked turning to Ash.
"Yeah, I can't wait." Ash grinned excitedly.
"Well then, please follow me." Erika led the group to the battlefield which was covered in grass and small flowers but the boundary lines could be seen clearly. "How do you want to battle?"
"3 on 3 okay with you Erika?" Ash asked as some of the Gym assistants came over to watch, it was rare to have a male challenger in the Gym. May, Leaf and the Pokémon stood at the side-lines staying out of the way of the battle.
"If that's what you want. Leaf, would you be a dear and referee this match for us?" Leaf nodded and walked to the small podium for the referee to stand on. Pikachu jumped from Ash's shoulder and ran over to May, sitting at her feet next to Glaceon. Gardevoir sat on the grass making herself comfortable as she was feeling a little uneasy on her feet, probably due to the slightly uneven ground of the Gym's grassy ground.
"This is a battle between Miss Erika of the Celadon City Gym and the challenger Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town. It will be a 3 on 3 battle and the first to knock out all of their opponent's Pokémon will be the winner. Challenger, are you ready?" Ash nodded as he gripped his first Pokéball. "Miss Erika, are you ready?" Erika gave Leaf a nod and gentle smile as she reached into the sleeve of her kimono. "Release your first Pokémon and let the battle begin."
Two flashes of light signalled the start of the battle for the Rainbow Badge, on Erika's side of the field a round blue Pokémon floated in the air and on Ash's side of the field he'd let Magby out of his ball. The Pokémon he was up against was one that Ash hadn't seen in a long time, it was a Jumpluff.
"Ladies first." Ash said.
"Why thank you." Erika replied, "Jumpluff use Poison Powder." The Cotton Weed Pokémon floated towards Magby and released a cloud of purple dust from the cotton puffs on her short arms.
"Flame Burst, burn it away quick!" Ash called out, not wanting to be at a disadvantage from the start. The raven haired trainer kept his attention focussed wholly on the battle, ignoring the glares he was getting from the Gym Assistants. It was painfully obvious that they didn't like the fact he was male and in the Gym, out of the corner of his eye he saw the blonde girl that had tried to stop him from entering walking up to a couple of the other girls and whisper to them. The girls looked at the blonde, to Ash and then back to the blonde before splitting up and going over to some of the other girls. Ash chose to keep his eyes on the battle and not worry about the Gym Assistants unless he actually had to.
Flame Burst quickly incinerated the poisonous cloud and blew up, some of the flames that were sent out from the burst hit Jumpluff. The Cotton Weed Pokémon spun around quickly to put out the embers that threatened to burn her cotton puffs. Magby fired another Flame Burst, this one directly at Jumpluff, the fire type attack exploded in front of the grass type pelting her with burning embers.
"Jumpluff, Synthesis." Erika said to her Pokémon, Jumpluff's body was surrounded by a bright white light and white sparkles as she regained health.
"Magby, Flamethro…" Ash started before he was interrupted.
"Solar Beam!" Erika called out, Jumpluff's cotton puffs glowed with a pale yellow energy before they fired the energy at Magby, the three beams melded together into one attack and slammed into the Live Coal Pokémon sending him sprawling across the grassy field.
"How…?" May asked in stunned surprise.
"Miss Erika used the energy from Synthesis to quickly charge a Solar Beam." Leaf explained, looking over her shoulder slightly so she could still see the battle. "See those?" She pointed to the ceiling, May looked up. "Those are solar lamps, they're used mainly for the plants but they also help when using Synthesis but not with Solar Beam. Solar Beam needs the energy from real sunlight not artificial light from those light but converting the artificial light through Synthesis to charge a quick Solar Beam is possible, it's not as strong as a normal Solar Beam but it'll do in a pinch."
While Leaf had been talking Ash had gone fully on the offensive, Magby was launching attack after attack. Flamethrower after Flamethrower sped towards the grass type but Jumpluff always seemed to be able to just dodge the attacks though, it took Ash a minute to work out what was happening.
"Magby, switch back to Flame Burst." The Live Coal Pokémon looked confused, wondering why Ash wanted to go back to a weaker attack but did as he was asked. Ash saw a small frown appear on Erika's face and knew he'd guessed right. Jumpluff was using the heated air that came before the Flamethrowers to move out of the way, but due to Flame Burst's wide affect area it made Jumpluff's dodging technique useless.
"Fairy Wind." Erika countered, Jumpluff sent a strong gust of sparkling wind at the incoming attacks and reversed their course. The Flame Bursts were sent back towards Magby who smirked and charged towards them. Magby jumped into their paths and started to punch the attacks, he destroyed them all quickly and when he landed back on the ground his fists were aflame. His breathing was a little heavier than it had been before due to damage taken from Fairy Wind.
"Fire Punch!" Ash shouted, throwing a fist forward smiling. He could feel that familiar buzz of excitement coursing through his body as he let his instincts take over. Magby pushed off the ground with one foot and sped towards Jumpluff, he'd been working on his speed by chasing Ponyta and that training had paid off. The fire type had closed the distance quickly and jumped into the air to drive his fist into Jumpluff's body, sending her crashing to the ground. Magby didn't let up on his assault, not giving Jumpluff a chance to get back into the air where she could dodge properly. Out of the corner of his eye Ash could see some of the Gym assistants scowling at him and slowly reaching for a Pokéball but Leaf spotted them too, stopping them with a glare before they could interfere. After three years working alongside her the other Gym Assistants all knew that Leaf had a temper you didn't want to be the victim of.
"Giga Drain." Erika said, her voice clear above the sounds of the battle. Jumpluff's cotton puffs glowed green and started to siphon energy from Magby, regaining the health she had lost.
"Magby, Counter Shield!" Magby nodded, dropping to one knee from the energy drain and used Fire Spin around himself, the wall of flames broke the green tendril of Jumpluff's Giga Drain and protected Magby from further draining. This wasn't a fully perfected Counter Shield yet but it was working so Ash didn't complain.
"Jumpluff my dear, get back into the air and use Sleep Powder." The Cotton Weed Pokémon did as Erika said and floated into the air, the grass type was soon high enough to release her attack. Jumpluff started to shake her cotton puffs when Ash shouted out.
"Lava Plume!" An explosion of smoke and flames shot out of the Fire Spin, hitting Jumpluff there was more to the attack then it seemed though. Magby had used the attack to launch himself into the air and hit Jumpluff with a Fire Punch uppercut as he went past. As Jumpluff reeled from the double attack, Magby fell to the ground using Flamethrower to slow his descent.
"Synthesis." Jumpluff started to glow white again but Magby was ready to end this battle.
"Double Punch." Ash said, Magby ran forward again. One fist shrouded in flames the other crackling with electricity. The Live Coal Pokémon leapt into the air and slammed both fists into Jumpluff's body, there was a small explosion as the fire and electricity reacted to each other. Smoke surrounded the pair, Magby dropped out of the cloud after a couple of seconds he was panting by still ready to battle. Slowly Jumpluff floated out of the cloud drifting to the ground, her once white cotton puffs now grey from the smoke.
"Jumpluff is unable to battle, Magby is the winner." Leaf said, calling the result of the battle. Erika returned her Pokémon giving Jumpluff her thanks as she did so before taking another Pokéball from inside her sleeve. "Grotle, I need you."
The Grove Pokémon landed on the field with a dull thud, ready for the battle ahead. Ash knew that this was going to be a tough match even if Magby was at full strength.
"Magby, Smog!" Ash shouted, the Live Coal Pokémon took a deep breath and blew out a thick cloud of poisonous smoke. Unable to dodge it quick enough Grotle was smothered with the toxic gas and was poisoned. "Now Flamethrower!" Magby let loose a stream of fire, it ignited the gas causing another explosion. At this point Magby was running low on energy but he wasn't ready to throw in the towel just yet. Magby launched attack after attack into the smoke adding more Smog to the mix for more explosions, trying to do as much damage as he could before he fell.
"Earth Power." Erika said calmly, a golden glow could be seen inside the smoke from the explosion followed quickly by cracks that ran across the grassy battlefield towards Magby. As soon as the cracks reached the fire type the golden energy burst out, lifting the Live Coal Pokémon into the air and knocking him out at the same time.
"Magby is unable to battle, Grotle is the winner. Challenger choose your next Pokémon." Leaf announced. Ash thanked Magby for everything he'd done as he returned the fire type. He then took another Pokéball from his belt, Magby had been able to mete out a lot of damage in a short amount of time hopefully it would be enough to end this battle quickly.
"Go, Ponyta!" Ash released the Fire Horse Pokémon from her Pokéball, all the girls in the Gym squealed at the sight of the Shiny Pokémon as her blue fiery mane crackled quietly. Ash usually didn't like it when girls squealed over his Pokémon but this time he was happy they were because it meant they weren't staring daggers at him for simply being there.
"Grotle, Leech Seed." Erika said, as the smoke cleared from around the Grove Pokémon Ash could see that due to the copious amounts of Smog Magby had used Grotle had been poisoned. A trio of glowing seeds were launched out of the hedge-like bushes on Grotle's back and flew towards Ponyta.
"Flame Charge." Ash countered, Ponyta was shrouded in vibrant blue flames which incinerated the Leech Seed upon contact as she started running at Grotle.
"Rock Climb." Grotle's claws glowed a bright white and elongated as the grass type reared onto his back legs before slamming his front legs on the ground. A massive pillar of rock erupted from the field and Grotle started running up the pillar causing bits of rock to fall towards Ponyta. The Fire Horse not wanting to let Ash down, dodged all of the incoming rocks and using her natural speed along with the boost from Flame Charge she followed Grotle up the pillar.
Everyone was surprised to see the young fire type running up a near vertical column of rock with no perceivable difficulty and a look of pure determination in her eyes. Due to her advantage of speed Ponyta quickly caught up to the slower Grotle and slammed into him knocking him off the pillar and down to the ground. As Grotle fell the rock pillar started to retract back into the ground, as it lowered Ponyta kept running until she reached the top. As the final part of the pillar descended into the ground Ponyta reared up and neighed at the top of her lungs as she kicked her forelegs.
"Seems Ponyta shares the same battle flair as a lot of your other Pokémon Ash." May shouted out to him. Ash just smiled back at her and saw Lucario smirking slightly. Gardevoir was smiling as well she had developed a close relationship with Ponyta almost like a mother/daughter connection, the Embrace Pokémon had helped Ponyta train and perfect a few attacks.
"That was unexpected." Erika said, "But that is the reputation that follows you and your Pokémon. Grotle, are you okay?" The Grove Pokémon shook himself as he stood up and grunted to say he was ready to battle, purple energy crackled across his body as the poison took an effect making him groan but he stayed strong. "Use Giga Drain." Tendrils of luminous green energy flowed from Grotle and latched onto Ponyta sapping her energy while at the same time replenishing Grotle's own. The effects could be seen on Ponyta, already she was looking tired, Grotle attacked with a Razor Leaf as well to wear the Fire Horse Pokémon down quicker.
"Break out of it with Flame Wheel." Ponyta once more surrounded herself with fire but it wasn't enough to break the Giga Drain only weaken it. The Fire Horse charged forward as the grass type attack continued to draw energy from her. "Keep going and use Flamethrower." The Flamethrower added power to Flame Wheel as Ponyta ran into it, the increase in strength was enough to break Grotle's Giga Drain. Ponyta collided with Grotle and stumbled away as the Grove Pokémon countered with a Headbutt followed quickly by an Energy Ball.
"Earth Power." Erika commanded, Grotle glowed with golden energy as he used the same attack that had finished Magby off. Ponyta didn't need to be told to dodge as she weaved around the cracks that chased her across the grassy field. Ash's mind whirled as he tried to think of a way out of this, his subconscious took in every detail of the battle and ran through all possible options from the obvious to his usual choices of the downright crazy. All of this happened over a couple of seconds until Ash's conscious mind picked a thought at random.
"Run at Grotle!" He shouted, Ponyta reversed her course and leapt over a set of golden cracks that she'd been outrunning and charged at her grass type opponent. She zigged and zagged around the cracks that Grotle continued to send her way, occasionally skipping over the attacks. As she got closer and closer the cracks got shorter and glowed brighter. Grotle let the attack finish as Ponyta was nearly alongside him, it was then that Ash put his plan into action. "Jump!" He yelled a manic smile on his face, trusting him completely Ponyta did just that and sailed through the air over Grotle. It was then that Erika realised what Ash's plan had been, Grotle let his attack go too soon in an attempt to hit Ponyta and instead got caught in it himself. The force for the Earth Power pushed him over on to his side, Erika kept a calm demeanour although a glance into her eyes told the real story she knew that Grotle was in trouble and didn't know what to do to fix it. "Flamethrower." Ponyta circled around to launch her attack at the Grove Pokémon's exposed underbelly and was about to let loose the stream of flames when Grotle started to glow a brilliant white.
Grotle started to grow, three spikes erupted from the right hand side of his shell pushing him back on to his feet as the hedge on the left side of his shell turned into a tree. When the light faded Grotle was gone and in his place stood a Torterra, Ponyta continued her attack run and spewed a column of flames at the newly evolved Pokémon. Torterra still bore a lot of the damage from his previous battles but the sudden evolution had given his an energy boost, two rings of sharp rocks appeared around him as he launched into a Stone Edge attack. The Fire Horse stopped her Flamethrower and started to weave between the rock missiles until one struck the ground in front of her sending her head over hooves. Ponyta rose to her feel shakily, from the corner of her eye she saw Ash reaching for her Pokéball and sent a small cluster of Ember at him.
"Are you sure? I don't want you to get seriously hurt." Ash said surprised and unsure whether to listen to Ponyta's willingness to stay in the battle. The fire type nodded and turned to face Torterra, pawing at the ground to show she still had some fight in her. Ash smiled at how she was acting, only a couple of months ago she was still nervous around new people and didn't want to do much beside run and play but here she was ready to take on an opponent larger than herself and more experienced. Ash couldn't be more proud of her but there was time to let her know later, right now he needed to focus. "Flame Wheel!" Ponyta reared up as she burst in to flames and charged at Torterra faster than she had before in the battle. "Get alongside him." Ponyta swerved out of the path of a Leaf Storm and ran next to Torterra. "Double Kick." Still cloaked in fire Ponyta spun on her front hooves and started to kick Torterra with all her strength.
"Wood Hammer." Erika said quietly looking away from the field, all of the Gym assistants followed her example and looked away as the tree on Torterra's back glowed a vibrant green and he leant heavily to the side. The tree slammed into Ponyta, putting out her flames and her out of the battle. The second the tree made contact with Ponyta Ash was out of his box and sprinting towards his Pokémon, when he got to her Torterra was starting to lift his tree. Ash funnelled his Aura into his arms and lifted the tree off of Ponyta, surprising everyone watching. Most simply put it down to adrenaline but Erika and May knew what it really was. Ash knelt next to Ponyta and put her head in his lap.
"I'm so proud of you." Ash said as he stroked the Fire Horse Pokémon, instead of returning her to her Pokéball Ash picked her up and carried her to where Gardevoir was sat. As soon as Ash placed Ponyta down Gardevoir and Lucario used Heal Pulse on her straight away, Ash let Magby out of his ball so he could get the same treatment. Seeing the look in Gardevoir's eyes Ash shook his head, he knew that Gardevoir wanted this battle but he already had a plan to end it quickly for Torterra.
"Ash, are you okay?" May asked.
"I'm alright." He said but the fire in his eyes said otherwise, he was angry. Ash turned back to the field and glared at Erika. "That was uncalled for." The grass type Gym Leader flinched under Ash's gaze.
"I miscalculated the strength of the attack and thought Ponyta looked stronger than she was. I apologise." Erika looked to a couple of the Gym assistants. "Tasha, Alexa please go and get the medicinal herbs and tend to Ponyta's injuries as well as Magby's." The two girls nodded and ran off to do as they were asked. Ash's anger towards Erika calmed but he was still angry at Torterra, he knew just how strong Ponyta was but still attacked at full strength.
"Time to bring back an old friend." Ash said quietly as he looked at his last Pokéball, he threw it into the air. "I choose you, Pidgeot!" He yelled, it had been years since they'd last had an official battle together but due to the visits Ash paid the Bird Pokémon after returning home from each new region or adventure Ash and Pidgeot were still in sync when it came to battles. Everyone was in awe of the majestic flying type that appeared in front of Ash, the sheer size of Pidgeot was enough to show how strong he was but that wasn't the only reason everyone was stunned by him. His very appearance had caused the states of awe, his feathers were in pristine condition, there wasn't a speck of dirt on him and his plumage was in full health there was no sign of any damaged or faded feathers. Ash gave Pidgeot a few seconds to get himself situated and take in her surroundings so he knew what sorts of speeds and distances he could use. His years of flying experience allowed Pidgeot to work out the dimension of the building at a glance and construct a mental model of his surroundings so he could keep his focus on the battle and no worry about hitting the ceiling or have to perform a last second dodge to avoid a light. Once Ash was sure Pidgeot was ready he started the battle before Leaf had a chance to say begin.
"Use Gust." The young Aura Guardian said, a low undertone of anger in his voice. Pidgeot picked up on the anger in Ash's voice and he remembered seeing Ponyta lying at the side of the field with Gardevoir and Lucario trying to heal her with two girls he didn't recognise. Magby was there as well tending to Ponyta's fiery mane, keeping it at a steady strength. Pidgeot quickly worked out what had happened and did as Ash asked, he flapped his wings to produce a gentle breeze. Everyone was confused, given the fact that Pidgeot was a very strong looking Pokémon but only creating a slight wind but Ash knew better.
The raven haired trainer knew that Pidgeot had noticed the same thing that he himself had seen, after a minute of the weak Gust Torterra's tree burst in to brilliant blue flames causing everyone to gasp and the Continent Pokémon to cry out in pain. When Torterra had used Wood Hammer, Ponyta's mane had left small smouldering embers in the tree which when combined with the air provided by Pidgeot's Gust attack caused the embers to gain strength until it became a roaring fire. Pidgeot circled in the air for a minute before Ash called out again. "Put the fire out." Pidgeot swooped down and using his immense speed blurred past Torterra, the resultant rush off air from his slipstream extinguished the fire. "Aerial Ace." Pidgeot looped through the air and disappeared, he reappeared on the opposite side of Torterra, while he had been out of sight Pidgeot had raked his talons along the grass and ground type's shell knocking him out of the battle.
"Torterra is unable to battle. Pidgeot is the winner." Leaf said, a little shocked at how quickly Pidgeot had taken Torterra out of the battle.
"Vileplume, I need your help." Erika said, the foliage behind her rustled as her Vileplume waddled out. The Flower Pokémon hesitated when she saw Pidgeot circling slowly through the air but walked onto the field waiting for Erika to tell her what to do. "Sunny Day." The grass and poison type's eyes shone with a fire as he flower sent a pillar of shining white light into the air and the sunlight got brighter. "Solar Beam, rapid fire." Vileplume bent forward a little and started to blast out Solar Beam after Solar Beam, getting more and more agitated as Pidgeot lazily dodged them all.
"Wing Attack." Ash called out and Pidgeot once again disappeared but this was due to his hard earned natural speed, not using any moves like Agility or Aerial Ace to aid him. Erika and Vileplume looked around to try and spot the large flying type Pokémon but found no sign of him, Vileplume was holding a Solar Beam ready to launch it at a second's notice. Before either Gym Leader or her Pokémon could react, Pidgeot swooped low over Erika's head and with glowing wings slammed into Vileplume sending the Flower Pokémon sprawling across the field. This had the unfortunate effect of causing Vileplume to lose her focus and launch the Solar Beam, it tore through the air towards a group of the Gym Assistants. "Lucario, Protect!" Ash shouted, Lucario sped towards the Gym Assistants, creating a shield around them and himself just in time. The Solar Beam detonated against the shield without hurting anyone and Lucario ran back to where he had been before Ash had spoken. Gardevoir had risen to her feet when Ash had shouted, she swayed slightly as Lucario stopped alongside her.
"Is everybody okay?" Erika asked her assistants, they nodded to her still a little stunned by what had happened.
"We can postpone the battle if you want Erika, I can come back tomorrow to finish it if you want to take care of you friends." Ash said.
"No, we can finish the battle now." Ash nodded in understanding and waited until Erika was ready to carry on, he could've started the battle straight away but he wanted to win his badges honourably. He wouldn't attack while his opponent was worried about their friends.
"Pidgeot, Air Slash." Ash said when he was sure Erika was ready, Pidgeot flapped his wings once and sent out a cluster of glowing saw like wind constructs as Vileplume.
"Petal Dance." Erika countered, a flurry of pink petals collided with Air Slash stopping the flying type attack. Ash was about to call out another attack when he heard a gasp and out of the corner of his eye he saw May with her hands over her mouth. Turning his head Ash saw why May had gasped, Gardevoir had collapsed Lucario was hovering over her using Heal Pulse. Ash was made a snap decision, he pushed off his back foot and began to sprint towards the Embrace Pokémon to see what had happened while at the same time calling out one attack that would end this battle right then and there.
"Storm Bird!" He yelled, Pidgeot cawed and flapped his wings hard and fast, he quickly created a powerful Hurricane which in the confines of the Gym formed a cyclone and blew everyone and every plant in the Gym around. He then flew into the top of the cyclone letting the winds carry him around and around, Pidgeot folded his wings back and circled down the cyclone, fire-like energy coated his body as he got closer to the ground. Just before he crashed into the grass Pidgeot opened his wings and flew at incredible speeds towards Vileplume, who was using Ingrain to stay in place, the fire-like energy that had covered Pidgeot was now a vibrant icy blue.
The combined speed and power of both Hurricane and Brave Bird was enough to tear Vileplume's roots from the ground on impact and send her into the bushes surrounding the field. Pidgeot used the recoil from the impact to soar back into the air, red electric like energy crackled across his signalling a lot of recoil. The Bird Pokémon used Defog to clear the Hurricane from the Gym and glided into a gentle landing, there was no need for Leaf to call the battle it was clear enough. Ash had won the battle but right now he could care less.
Gardevoir was lying on the grass, her eyes closed and she wasn't responding to anything Ash, May or any of the Pokémon did to try and wake her up. Ash scooped Gardevoir up into his arms and ran, he used his Aura to increase his speed and in a desperate attempt to get a response from the unconscious psychic and fairy type. He left everyone behind as he sped toward the Pokémon Centre, bursting through the doors less than a minute later and shouting at the top of his lungs.
"Nurse Joy, help her please."
Current Teams
Ash – Pikachu, Lucario, Gardevoir, Jolteon, Magby, Elekid, Ponyta, Pidgeot
May – Blaziken, Glaceon, Mawile, Litwick, Flaffy, Spoink, Beautifly, Cubone
I'd like to thank Zyonzilla for his OC and ask that people not send me theirs unless I ask for some.
I will ask for some when I get closer to the League and Grand Festival but right now I want to focus on moving the story along. When I get an OC, I feel the need to find a way to put them into the story as soon as possible and that slows the story down.
That's all I have for now
Until Next Time
Basic Trainer