I'm back with another chapter, and a quick thank you to The Man Known as nWore for letting me use his OC again.
That's all I've got to say so lets get on with the story, hope you enjoy it.
Chapter 37
Aura Guardian Vs Ninja
Croagunk leapt high into the air with her hands glowing bright white, Ash was about to call out a counter attack when he realised that Croagunk wasn't jumping towards Beldum. As Croagunk came back to the ground she smashed the Brick Break into the floor causing a cloud of thick black smoke to billow up on Janine's side of the battlefield and slowly spread out to cover her entire side of the field.
"What's going on?" Ash asked as Beldum retreated away from the smoke.
"I am simply using the battlefield to my advantage, it is your own failure for not researching a battlefield before you entered it." Janine replied while hidden from sight by the smoke. "Croagunk, Astonish." A croaking reply came from the smoke and a large ball of mud flew towards Beldum.
"Dodge it!" Ash shouted as Beldum quickly floated to the side before starting to weave around evading more globs of mud, occasionally getting hit by them.
"This is bad." Leaf said quietly.
"What do you mean?" May asked.
"Yeah, what's happening? That's Mud Bomb, not Astonish." Mike added.
"Janine's seriously pissed if she's using this tactic. She's taught her Pokémon to follow a set plan when she starts it off with an attack like Brick Break, it starts with keeping a barrier between her opponent and her side of the field, then keeping them off balance by calling out one attack while her Pokémon uses a different one. It's like a code for her, obviously Astonish means Mud Bomb but she only ever told me the basic idea of the strategy, I don't know if there's anything else to come."
"Why did you say it was bad?" May asked again.
"Because she told me she'd only use it when a trainer has insulted her or her ancestry, she calls it her Breaker."
While Leaf has been explaining thing to May and Mike, Ash had been full focussed on the battle and was watching Beldum. Beldum was different to the majority of Ash's Pokémon and it had taken him a while to get to grips with the mannerisms of the Iron Ball Pokémon but when he heard a mechanical chirp from the steel/psychic Pokémon he could guess what it meant.
"Got it?" Ash asked, Beldum chirped again. "Alright, Zen Headbutt!" Beldum's silver body became coated in a light blue energy and a circular plate of the energy formed onto of his head as he shot into the smoke. A thud was heard seconds later with Croagunk flying out of the other side of the haze, slamming into the wall next to Janine before dropping to the ground rubbing her sore stomach and getting up a few seconds later ready to jump back into the battle.
"How..?" Janine asked but Koga answered before Ash had a chance too.
"Your emotions are clouding your mind daughter. Beldum will eventually become a Metagross, one of, if not the smartest species of Pokémon there is. This Pokémon may look small but he is highly intelligent, something that Ash has just used to his advantage." Koga looked at Ash. "Am I correct in assuming that Beldum analysed Croagunk's attack pattern and plotted out her trajectory?"
"That's right." Ash said, smiling. "Janine's strategy threw me for a minute but I've learnt that sometimes you just have to take a step back and let your Pokémon act for themselves." Beldum floated back across the field and chirped happily as Ash patted him on the head.
"Croagunk, Hidden Power." Janine growled, Croagunk nodded once and jumped back into the smoke. There was a minute of tension as everyone waited to see what would happen, what attack would come next, when the ground underneath Beldum splintered open and Croagunk delivered a powerful Dig. "Astonish!" Croagunk's cheeks ballooned for a second before she spat out a Mud Bomb at point-blank range.
"Counter-Shield!" Ash shouted, Beldum once again glowed blue with psychic energy as he powered up a Zen Headbutt before tipping so he was looking down and spinning at high speed. Instead of the circular plate of energy forming Beldum's spin caused the energy to spiral around his body, the Mud Bomb impacted the energy and while some of the attack got through a large amount was deflected off to the side, making Koga dodge to avoid being hit. "Now attack!" Beldum chirped and quickly angled his spin so that he'd advance on Croagunk, slamming into the Toxic Mouth Pokémon's body with a violent spin.
"Hidden Power!" Janine yelled, Croagunk took a powerful leap backwards and disappeared into the smoke again.
"Get rid of the smoke." Ash smirked, Beldum kept advancing on Croagunk's last known position and the spin from Counter Shield started to clear the smokescreen.
"Double Team!" Croagunk burst out of the ground directly underneath Beldum, launching him into the air in an uncontrolled spin before fading from sight only to reappear above Beldum and punch him back to the ground. As he impacted the ground another cloud of smoke rose up, replacing the smokescreen the Beldum had managed to partly clear.
"Beldum!" Ash wracked his brain to try and think of a way to pull out an advantage against Janine, this grudge she had against him was affecting her ability to battle according to Koga but she was still giving Ash the run-around with this code of moves. So far Astonish meant Mud Bomb, Hidden Power was Dig and now Double Team seemed to be Feint Attack. Beldum floated back to Ash's side of the field and used Iron Defence while keeping his solitary eye scanning the smoke for the slightest sign of where Croagunk could be.
"Pin Point." Janine called out and less than a second later a storm of Poison Sting flew out of the smoke.
"Ash!" Mike shouted, "That's what she used just before Lucario got poisoned." Ash nodded quickly in acknowledgement, as the attack clattered against Beldum's body until the Iron Ball Pokémon trilled mechanically in pain.
"Iron Zen!" Ash countered. Beldum's whole body took on a dark metallic appearance as he shot forward with a circular plate of blue energy forming just in front of him. The Poison Sting was negated by the dual attack and Beldum crashed heavily into Croagunk's body once again sending the poison/fighting type out of the smoke.
"Belch!" A stream of luminous green ooze sprayed out of Croagunk's mouth and hit Beldum in the eye, causing purple lightning to crackle across his body. Janine smirked through a gap in the smoke. "Just admit defeat, your Pokémon is poisoned and I can keep using Venoshock until it's knocked out. Save your Pokémon from suffering and surrender." Ash was silent as he looked at the ground, his fists clenched at his sides. A minute passed before Ash raised his head and gave Janine a sly smile.
"That's a good trick you've worked out, it's the kind of strategy I'd come up with on the fly." He said.
"What do you mean?" Janine asked, Koga looked at Ash and raised an eyebrow.
"I know how you poisoned a steel type." Ash thrust out a fist. "And I don't surrender, I know Beldum can win this battle. Now Zen Headbut barrage!" Beldum chirped loudly as he charged back and forth across the battlefield all the while shining with psychic energy and colliding with Croagunk with each pass. Janine called out a number of different attacks for Croagunk to use to try and escape from the attacks but Beldum wasn't giving his opponent enough time to recover between attack runs. Eventually Beldum had to stop as the purple lightning crackled across his body and sapped his energy, he could see that Croagunk didn't have much left in this battle so he dug deep for the energy to attack one last time.
A bright light caught everyone's attention as Beldum's body glowed white, inside the light Beldum's body nearly tripled in size and once the light had faded a silver and gold Metang was floating in his place. Ash's Pokédex beeped and when he checked is he saw that Metang had learnt two new attacks.
"Metang, Confus.." Ash started but was cut off when Janine shouted over him.
"Mud-Slap!" Croagunk lunged out of the smoke and delivered a powerful Sucker Punch, sending Metang backwards.
"Quick, Confusion." Metang's eyes lit up with a pale blue light as psychic energy wrapped around Croagunk and started to throw her around the field until it let go and Croagunk fell to the ground.
"Croagunk is unable to battle, the victor is Metang." Koga said, raising a hand towards Ash. Janine recalled Croagunk without a word and took out her next Pokéball.
"Hang on." Mike called out, "Are you going to keep us in the dark or what? How did Janine poison a steel type?"
"Her Pokémon use an extra strong Poison Sting on a soft part of a steel type. Croagunk aimed for Beldum's eye and I'm going to guess for Lucario it was shot into her mouth?" Ash replied, looking for confirmation from Janine but it was Koga who answered.
"That is correct, I am impressed that you noticed. May I ask how?"
"It was when Croagunk used Venoshock, she hit Beldum's eye. I figured that for Venoshock to have the most effect it would have to hit the same place the poison was strongest." Ash looked at Metang and held up a Pokéball. "Metang you've done really well and I'm proud of you, take a nice long rest. Return." Metang nodded and disappeared in a flash of red pixels, Ash considered the other Pokémon on his belt before picking one. He was about to throw it when another Pokéball burst open and Bagon tugged on his pant leg.
"Ba Bagon?" Ash knelt down and rubbed the Rock Head Pokémon's head.
"Sorry, I can't play right now. I'm in the middle of a Gym Battle."
"What's wrong Guardian? Can't you control your Pokémon, are you that pitiful?" Ash levelled a glare as Janine.
"My Pokémon are my friends, if they want to be out of their Pokéballs then they can be." Ash said, picking up Bagon and passing her to May. He knelt down to look Bagon in the eye. "You stay here and watch me beat the mean lady then we can play, okay?"
"Ba!" Bagon nodded, Ash chuckled.
"Good girl." He stood up and returned to the field. While he'd been talking to Bagon Janine had released her next Pokémon, a Drapion. "I was going to keep him in reserve for later but look like he'll be making an early appearance." Ash plucked a Pokéball from his belt and threw it onto the field. "I choose you Krookodile." The Intimidation Pokémon appeared roaring loudly before looking at Drapion and adjusting his sunglasses. The two Pokémon glared at each other, sizing their opponent up and posturing to show their strength. Krookodile had the height advantage and used that to look down on Drapion, while baring his fangs and growling lowly. Not to be out done, Drapion clicked his pincers menacingly and let the beginnings of a roar rumble in his throat.
"Drapion, Cross Poison." A large X formed over the Ogre Scorpion's arms and flew towards Krookodile.
"Block it with Incinerate!" Ash countered, Krookodile opened his mouth and spat out a stream of flames which exploded upon contact with Cross Poison. Through the smoke from the explosion burst Drapion with his fangs glowing a faint green. "Aqua Tail!" The Intimidation Pokémon quickly spun with water spiralling around his tail, hitting Drapion across the face.
"Thunder Fang." Janine called out, Drapion quickly changed the green glow of Bug Bite into the electric yellow of Thunder Fang biting into Krookodile's tail. The water that had been used to attack was now working against Krookodile as it let the electric type move affect him through his typing. Letting out a bellow of pain, Krookodile turned and with claws blazing with light teal energy unleashed a barrage of Dragon Claws onto Drapion. The onslaught of attacks forced the Ogre Scorpion Pokémon to release Krookodile's tail and retreat but Krookodile followed him. "Poison Fang!" Drapion's teeth turned purple and his head darted forward.
"Aerial Ace." Ash shouted. Krookodile dropped low to the ground as silver energy shimmered over his body and in front of his snout as he sped past Drapion's lunging bite and slashed his side with a Dragon Claw. Drapion's tail lashed out and managed to wrap around Krookodile's snout allowing the poison and dark type to lift and throw his opponent across the battlefield.
"Grab Krookodile and use Poison Tail!" Drapion's arms stretched and wrapped around Krookodile as his tail darted forward, glowing purple with poison. Ash's mind sped up as he thought of a way to stop the attack, biting wouldn't work because Krookodile would still get hurt by the attack and be more likely to be poisoned by having it inside his mouth. Krookodile however seemed to be ahead of Ash and tilted his head slightly, using his sunglasses to deflect the attack to the side just enough to avoid serious damage.
"Incinerate!" Ash shouted, Krookodile smirked and opened his mouth sending the fire type attack point blank into Drapion's face. Screeching in pain Drapion released Krookodile and staggered backwards. "Sand Tomb!" Krookodile's body briefly flashed with golden brown energy and sand seeped up from between the floorboards, swirling around Drapion's feet and trapping him in place.
"Drapion, climb!" Janine yelled. Drapion stretched him arms and tail to the rafters and lifted himself out of the Sand Tomb, quickly manoeuvring himself away from the attack. "X-Scissor!" Drapion's claws shone with blue energy as he slashed them through the air sending the bug type attack speeding through the air towards Krookodile.
"Block it with Stone Edge!" Ash countered. The Intimidation Pokémon growled as two rings of jagged stones spun around him, Krookodile reached out to his sides and grabbed a stone in each hand before sending the others to intercept X-Scissor. Krookodile charged into the resulting stone dust and lashed out at Drapion, the ring of stone hitting claw was the only thing that either trainer could hear from the battle inside the smoke. After a minute the ringing stopped and only low growl could be heard, as the smoke started to clear everyone could see Krookodile and Drapion locked together, fighting for the upper-hand. "Mud Slap!" Ash shouted before Janine had the chance to act. Krookodile opened his jaws and spat out a stream of mud, hitting Drapion square in the face and sending the Ogre Scorpion Pokémon staggering back. "Don't let up!" Krookodile advanced quickly and powered up the stones he held with Dragon Claw, slashing repeatedly across Drapion's body.
"Pin Missile!" Janine shouted but Krookodile wasn't giving Drapion enough time to concentrate long enough to use the attack. A minute later Drapion lashed out wildly and managed to connect a hit to Krookodile's head, knocking the sunglasses off of the Intimidation Pokémon's snout.
"Uh oh." Ash murmured, fumbling for his Pokéball. "Krookodile, stay calm. Just pick your glasses up again, they're right next to you." Ash said calmly but it was at that point that Drapion roared covering everything Ash tried to say. Krookodile stood still, his head still tilted to the side after the hit and slowly as Drapion roared Krookodile turned to look at him. A brutal and savage bellow ripped out of Krookodile as he launched himself at Drapion, Ash acted just as fast as Krookodile and dashed onto the field. Drapion desperately dodged backwards and sideways to avoid Krookodile's rage fuelled attack, chaining attacks together without thought of whether they'd work or not.
Ash stooped low as he ran, picking up the sunglasses and chasing after Krookodile, he noticed Janine getting ready to throw something but a small Aura Sphere hitting the ground in front of her was enough to stop her. Slipping between Krookodile and Drapion Ash reached up and with Aura fuelled strength grabbed Krookodile's snout, pulling him to eye level.
"Calm down." Ash said, Krookodile stopped thrashing about but was still panting harshly, his eyes slitted so thinly they could barely be seen. "That's it, easy now." Ash said softly, putting the sunglasses onto Krookodile's snout. "There, that's better isn't it?" Krookodile nodded slowly as his rage subsided, Ash patted him on the snout and turned to look at Koga and Janine. "Sorry about that, Krookodile is very attached to his sunglasses, if anything happens to them he loses control."
"You should control your Pokémon better." Janine said derisively, Koga shot her a disapproving look as he cleared his throat.
"Need I mention the problems you are currently having with Nidoking?" He said calmly.
"No father." Janine replied quietly.
"Very well, shall we continue?"
"I am ready."
"Ash?" Koga asked, Ash looked at Krookodile who nodded.
"We're ready."
"Then if you would return to your side of the battlefield we shall carry on." Ash jogged over to his trainer box and waited for Koga to give the word.
"Resume the match."
"Poison Fang!" Janine called, Drapion lunged forward with fangs coated in venom.
"Iron Tail." Ash countered at the last second, Krookodile spun quickly slamming his now metallic looking tail into Drapion's face. The Intimidation Pokémon followed the attack through with a Dragon Claw and drove Drapion's head into the floor. "Now finish it with a full power Mud Slap!" Krookodile spat out another stream of mud, driving Drapion further in to the ground, stopping a minute later.
"Drapion is unable to battle, the victor is Krookodile." Koga announced, "Janine, please release your next Pokémon."
"She'll go for speed now." Leaf muttered to herself.
"What did you say?" May asked.
"Huh? Oh, I just said Janine would pick a fast Pokémon now. It's something I've noticed when she's battling, she'll try being sneaky, set up a smokescreen and attack from inside it. If that doesn't work she'll try strength, then speed after that comes her signature."
"I thought she didn't tell you anything about her battle plan?"
"She didn't, the code is purely for the Breaker everything else is her pattern. She'll change it up sometimes but battling Ash she'll go back to what she knows best so she can focus on beating his Pokémon instead of trying to strategize on the spot. For whatever reason she has for wanting to destroy Ash, she'll keep to her pattern because it rarely fails her. Usually she'll spend the few minutes before a battle studying her opponent and then plan a few steps in advance of what they might do and guide them in to traps." Leaf explained, causing May to giggle lightly.
"That won't work on Ash, he's unpredictable and can turn a disadvantage to an advantage when it comes down to the last second. He might plan a little but you can't count on him doing what you want him to in a battle."
"Appear, Crobat!" Janine shouted as she threw a Pokéball onto the field. Crobat came out of the Pokéball in a mass of white pixels and quickly flapped his wings, circling a few times to warm up. Ash looked at the Bat Pokémon for a few seconds before grinning, his smile drew Janine's attention and anger. "Toxic!" Crobat sped towards Krookodile and spat a glob of bubbling purple ooze at the Intimidation Pokémon.
"Why's Ash smiling?" Mike asked.
"Yeah, I'd like to know that too." Leaf added, the pair looked at May for answers.
"A friend of ours has a Crobat and Ash travelled with him for years." May said with a smile.
"So Ash knows what to expect and how to counter." Mike finished, starting to smile himself. "Now I see why he's smiling."
"Incinerate." Ash said, Krookodile spat out the fire type attack and let it explode against the ooze before firing another into the resulting smoke. Crobat harshly swerved to the side and in the few seconds it took for her to correct herself, Krookodile struck. "Thunder Fang!" With a mouthful of electrified fangs Krookodile lunged forward and bit into Crobat's lower wing. Crobat shrieked at the super effective attack sent pain through her body. "Now Dig!" Krookodile spun in the air and dove towards the ground.
"Air Slash!" Janine shouted desperately. Crobat whipped her wings quickly as they glowed white sending a small barrage of saw-blade like wind attacks into Krookodile's snout causing the dark/ground type to release her just before they hit the ground. Crobat swiftly spun away from the thrown up splinters from Dig and fought against the residual electricity to regain her height as quickly as possible.
"Stone Edge." Krookodile fired out a volley of razor sharp stones at Crobat from underground making the Bat Pokémon swerved around the attack.
"Use Toxic." Crobat repeatedly fly over the hole in the floor and spat glob after glob of the poison type attack into it. Ash just stood watching Crobat's movements, his silence and inactivity was starting to grind at Janine's patience. Even May was starting to wonder what Ash was doing, it wasn't like him to wait this long in a battle before making a move and it definitely wasn't like him to intentionally rile an opponent up like this.
"Sandstorm!" He shouted suddenly. A whirling vortex of sand came flying out of the hole just as Crobat was passing over, that was when everyone worked out what he'd been doing. He'd been working out the timing for the attack, Krookodile came out of the hole inside the Sandstorm using it to propel him into the air. "Dragon Claw!" With the speed Krookodile was moving Crobat wouldn't be able to evade the attack in time so Janine took the only option left to her and attacked.
"Toxic!" Crobat once again used the poison type attack and actually managed to hit Krookodile, causing the Intimidation Pokémon to break off his attack and fall to the floor clawing at the affected area of his snout as purple lighting crackled around him. "Venoshock!" Crobat spat out a stream of green ooze which Krookodile barely managed to dodge. Ash raised a Pokéball to recall Krookodile but the dark/ground type shook his head.
"Krook Krookodile!"
"You want to fight till the end don't you?" Krookodile smirked as nodded, Ash lowered the Pokéball and nodded back. "Alright then, let's win this battle. Stone Edge!" Krookodile roared so loud the room seemed to shake as three rings of razor sharp rock spiralled around him before launching themselves at Crobat. The Bat Pokémon managed to evade the first wave, was clipped by the second wave but the third wave pelted him mercilessly. Krookodile roared again and charged in with three more rings forming around him. "Aerial Ace!" Krookodile blurred as his speed greatly increased, launching himself into the air towards Crobat, ignoring the stabbing pain of the poison circulating around his body.
"Venoshock!" Janine countered but Krookodile took the attack head on and kept going, releasing the Stone Edge at close range.
"Outrage!" Krookodile's eyes glowed red behind his sunglasses as energy of the same colour outlined his body. The Intimidation Pokémon unleashed a blistering assault on Crobat, biting, punching and clawing as they both fell to the ground. They hit the ground with an echoing crash and the sharp sound of splintering wood, setting off a few remaining smoke bombs. After a minute of silence and inactivity Koga called out his Golbat and used Defog to clear away the smoke. Both Krookodile and Crobat were laying in the crater knocked out, Ash and Janine both returned their Pokémon as Koga spoke.
"Both Krookodile and Crobat are unable to battle, Gym Leader and Challenger please send out your next Pokémon."
Ash attached Krookodile's Pokéball to his belt and unclipped another one as Janine looked at her last Pokémon for this battle. She knew that she was asking her Pokémon to do a lot, Ash still had three Pokémon, two fresh, one battle-weary and poisoned. She could feel a begrudging respect for Ash, having pushed her into this position. Janine whispered to her Pokémon and lightly touched the Pokéball to her lips before throwing it onto the field at the same time Ash sent out his Pokémon.
On the field in identical flashes of light appeared a Trapinch on Ash's side of the field and an Ariados in front of Janine.
"Begin the battle!" Koga said as his Golbat hung from a rafter.
"Ariados, String Shot!" Janine shouted quickly. The Long Leg Pokémon responded immediately as if knowing what Janine was going to say before she did so, spitting out a stream of sticky webbing with a slight lilac tint to it.
"Dodge!" Ash called to Trapinch but the Ant Pit Pokémon wasn't speedy enough to evade the attack and was quickly tangled in the webbing. A crackle of purple lightning sparked across the ground type's body as he was poisoned, Ash had a feeling that this would happen after noticing the colour difference to Ariados' String Shot. Ash felt a shiver go down his spine when he saw the wicked grin on Janine's face.
"Giga Drain." She commanded, Ariados' head spike turned a vibrant light green and energy of the same colour speared out, attaching to Trapinch and draining the ground type's energy.
"Rock Slide!" Ash shouted, Trapinch became enveloped in red energy and rocks started to appear out of thin air and crash to the ground between the two Pokémon breaking the energy stream of Giga Drain. "Now Bulldoze!" Once again Trapinch was coated in energy, this time in gold, and charged at the fallen rocks crashing into them and sending them rocketing at Ariados.
"Ariados, up!" A stream of stick silk shot out of the bug/poison type's abdomen and attached itself to the rafters pulling the Pokémon up and out of the way of the rocks.
"Use Sandstorm on the silk!" Ash said, Trapinch narrowed her eyes and sent a focussed stream of fast moving sand at the webbing. The sand hit its target and sawed through the silk, dropping Ariados back to the ground. "Now use Sandstorm properly." Trapinch nodded and let the stream widen until the field was hidden by the rushing sand.
"Sticky Web!" Ariados could be heard spitting globs of webbing around the field while Ash stood with his eyes closed and his Aura Sight activated.
"Bite." Ash said calmly but still loud enough to be heard over the sound of the Sandstorm. A hiss of pain came from Ariados as Trapinch bit down on one of the bug/poison type's legs.
"Pin Missle!"
"Double Team and get back." There were a few minute of silence except for the occasional thud of Pin Missle hitting the ground and the sound of the Sandstorm.
"Psychic!" Janine said through gritted teeth. A wave of light blue energy disrupted the Sandstorm and sent Trapinch tumbling through the air. "Now Night Shade!" Ariados' horn became enveloped with black and red energy that was surrounded with a blue light, the energy shot out in a fiery beam hitting Trapinch as she fell. A veil of red surrounded Trapinch as she unsteadily got to her feet, she opened her mouth and a blast of blinding white energy fired out. The energy slammed into Ariados sending her skidding backwards, the Long Leg Pokémon remained on her feet and only looked slightly winded as she stared down Trapinch who was panting heavily. Trapinch cried out as the effects of the poison that had been circulating around inside her took its toll, her legs gave out beneath her and she slumped forward.
"Trapinch is unable to battle, Ariados is the victor. Challenger, please send out your next Pokémon." Koga announced as Ash walked onto the field and retrieved Trapinch.
"You did so well, I'm really proud of you." Ash said to his Pokémon, stroking her head gently. Trapinch slowly opened her eyes and gently bit down on Ash's hand, the raven-haired trainer smiled and returned Trapinch to her Pokéball. "Okay, time for one last battle." Ash unclipped a ball from his belt and enlarged it. "I choose you, Sandshrew!" He shouted as he threw the ball, Sandshrew appeared on the field in an additional flash of light. The Mouse Pokémon stretched quickly and stared down Ariados without fear. "Gaia's Rage!" Ash said and Sandshrew reacted immediately, using the dispersed sand from Sandstorm to trap Ariados in place then slamming his paw to the ground and letting Earth Power blast the Long Leg Pokémon into the air. "Swift!" Sandshrew spat out a volley of stars at the falling bug/poison type Pokémon, the stars spun through the air making their way to their target quickly.
"Poison Sting!" Janine countered. Ariados' mandibles clicked as she fired out purple needles of energy at the stars with pinpoint accuracy shattering them and causing a shower of sparking energy glitter in the air. "String Shot!" Just like the battle with Trapinch the poisoned String Shot flew towards Sandshrew intent on poisoning him.
"Metal Claw!" Ash shouted, it was a risk but then again most of his strategies were. Sandshrew's claws took on a metallic sheen as he slashed repeatedly at the String Shot, shredding it apart. "Grab it!" Sandshrew acted without hesitating but he did wonder what Ash had planned. "Now Gyro Ball." A pale yellow energy coated Sandshrew's body as he curled up, still holding the String Shot, and started to rotate on the spot. This move drew Ariados towards the ground type at high speed, leaving her unable to react and sever the String Shot. "Bulldoze." Gold energy flared up around Sandshrew as he uncurled, snapping the String Shot from around his body and surged forward to meet Ariados. The two Pokémon crashed together and were thrown back, Sandshrew skidded backwards a few feet while Ariados was sent tumbling backwards further. The bug/poison type slowly got to her feet, still able to fight but showing the damage from her battles.
"Giga Drain!" Janine called out but Ash was ready for the grass type attack this time.
"Dodge with Rollout!" Sandshrew curled up and weaved around the field dodging the damage from the Gym battle and the green stream of energy that Ariados kept trying to sap his energy with. Sandshrew had been evading the attack for a few minutes before as he rolled to the side to avoid a splintered floorboard Ariados managed to ensnare him with Giga Drain. "Counter Shield!" Sandshrew had stumbled and uncurled when caught in the green energy so he slowly rolled into a ball again, steadily beginning to spin in the spot. Sandstorm took a minute to fully power up and after a few seconds it shattered the energy that had been draining his energy. "Rollout!" Sandshrew used the Sandstorm shield to launch him towards Ariados at high speed.
"Sticky Web!" Ariados fired out globs of webbing but Sandshrew expertly dodged around them all and kept going, using a broken floorboard as a ramp to get into the air. "Toxic!" A bubbling sphere of purple ooze intercepted Sandshrew but didn't stop him as he burst through it and crashed into Ariados.
"Magnitude." Sandshrew leapt and spun around, a dirty brown energy surrounding his body as he slammed his tail down on Ariados.
"Shadow Sneak!" Janine yelled, Ariados' shadow grew and tackled Sandshrew away just before Magnitude made contact. "Poison Jab!" The Long Leg Pokémon skittered forward and stabbed at Sandshrew with the now purple/pink coloured horn on her head. Rather than retreat or evade Sandshrew chose to stand his ground and met each of Ariados' attacks with one of his own.
"Metal Fury." Sandshrew's claws turned metallic again as he used a combination of Fury Swipes and Metal Claw even as the poison from Toxic coursed through his body.
The two Pokémon had hit a stalemate, Sandshrew was taking damage from Ariados' repeated Poison Jabs although using Metal Claw was stopping the double damage from taking effect. At the same time Ariados was being hurt by Sandshrew's attacks, they stayed in this flurry of attacks matching each other move for move until eventually something gave. Sandshrew flinched as a stab of pain from Toxic wracked his body, giving Ariados the opportunity to land Poison Jab to the Mouse Pokémon's torso. Sandshrew staggered back and kicked up a desperate Sand Attack to buy himself a couple of seconds, he knew that he wouldn't last much longer and was determined to come out of this battle as the victor so he put the last of his energy into a final attack. He slammed his hand to the floor and Earth Power blasted the temporarily blinded Ariados into the air before landing on her back with a dull thud. Koga stepped forward to get a better look at the two Pokémon before nodding to himself.
"Ariados is unable to battle, Sandshrew is the victor. The Gym Leader has no more useable Pokémon for this battle therefore the match goes to the challenger, Ash Ketchum of Pallet Town." The Elite said. Ash whooped excitedly as he ran onto the now completely ruined battlefield to celebrate with Sandshrew but slowed as the ground type started to glow. Bright white light engulfed the Mouse Pokémon as he grew in height, his claws extended and spikes erupted from his back. When the light faded in the place of the once green Mouse Pokémon stood a panting light brown Pokémon with deep red spikes on his back. Sandshrew had evolved into Sandslash, Ash started running towards his Pokémon as Sandslash dropped to one knee with purple lightening crackling around him.
"I'm so proud of you Sandslash and congratulations on evolving." Ash said after steadying the Mouse Pokémon. "Take a long rest, we'll get you healed up soon." Sandslash nodded and returned to his Pokéball letting Ash stand up and face Janine as she returned Ariados and approached him.
"I present you with the Soul Badge for defeating me in battle." She said holding the badge out to Ash, as he took it Janine knelt and bowed, putting her head to the floor. "I apologise for my behaviour earlier, I let my personal feelings cloud my judgement and attacked you without valid cause. You may exact any punishment upon me that you see fit." Ash stood there and stared at Janine for a few seconds before kneeling down and lifting her up so he could see her face.
"Let me fix your ribs and we'll call it even." He smiled, Janine looked at him in confusion before a smirk crossed her lips.
"You are a strange one Guardian, the tales I have heard from the other Gym Leaders seem to be the truth." She nodded. "I would be honoured if you healed my injuries. Let us retire to another room and allow me to heal your Pokémon for you, it is the least I can do for the excellent battle they have just fought. Due to the nature of the Gym we have a Pokémon healing machine to deal with poisonings." Ash and Janine stood together and after telling May, Leaf and Mike they'd be back in a few minutes went to the room where the healing machine was housed. Ash put his Pokéballs in the machine as Janine did the same and turned it on. "They should be back in fighting condition in a few minutes."
"Okay, let's see to your injuries now." Ash said before spinning around and turning red as Janine pulled her top off leaving her in her breast bindings.
"Is something wrong Guardian?" She asked.
"You didn't have to undress for me to heal you." Ash replied trying to fight down his blush.
"I thought it would be easier if you could see the injuries yourself."
"That's true but…"
"Then there's no problem, now are you going to heal me or wait till someone comes looking for us and gets the wrong idea?" That statement made up Ash's mind, he turned around and avoided looking as Janine's face or chest, focussing his attention on the bruised skin on her side. He let Aura pool in his hand as he held it over the injured area, Janine let out a quiet moan as the pain in her ribs started to subside.
"How did you know I was an Aura Guardian?" Ash asked to take his mind off Janine state of undress. "When you attacked me in the clearing, I assume you wouldn't have done that if you thought I was a normal person."
"It is true, I did know you were an Aura Guardian. I knew due to the fabric my clothes are made of, they are made the same way as they would have been made during the wars. It will react to anyone with a strong Aura but tensing and relaxing rapidly. I felt it while I was training and tracked it to yourself, Leaf and our girlfriend, I knew it wouldn't be Leaf and when your girlfriend left the clearing it didn't stop leaving you as the origin of the strong Aura. You confirmed it yourself when you activated your Aura sight to try and locate my position." Janine explained, they sat in silence for a minute while Ash continued to heal Janine's ribs. "You are very skilled, may I enquire as to the name of your instructor?"
"Riley, he spends a lot of time in Rota."
"I have heard of him, he has a very honourable reputation."
"Careful." Ash smirked, "It almost sounds like you respect an Aura Guardian." Janine shot him a glare before seeing the smirk and a small smile crossed her lips.
"I won't deny that I would like to test myself against an Aura Guardian of his calibre. I hold a certain amount of respect for those of great ability, even if I might consider them an enemy." Ash nodded in understanding, he had a certain amount of respect for the people he'd stopped over the years like Hunter J and Team Galactic, while they were definitely bad people he couldn't deny their strength and respect it.
"There all healed up, you might feel a little stiff for a few hours but everything's fine now." Ash said, moving his hand away from Janine's side and letting the Aura dissipate. Janine nodded and pulled her top back on before retying her scarf. They collected their Pokémon and returned to the room where Ash, May and Mike had been taken too before the battle. Just before they entered the room Janine put a hand on Ash's shoulder.
"The respect I told you about before, the one I hold for those of great ability. I hold that respect for you now." She nodded to him once and opened the door entering the room. The groups sat together, had tea and spoke for a while before Ash, May and Mike said their goodbyes and left for the Pokémon Centre, Leaf stayed at the Gym a little longer to catch up with Janine.
As they walked through Fuchsia City Ash and Mike were sharing some battle ideas when a noise caught Mike's attention. He looked down an alley and saw a young boy, no older than 6, rummaging through a dumpster. The boy's clothes were dirty and tattered, his skin was coated in grime and he looked gaunt as though he hadn't eaten in days which he probably hadn't. Around the boy's shoulders was a Weedle looking just as hungry and dirty as the boy.
"Hey, you two go on ahead, I'll catch up in a few minutes." Mike told them as he and Houndoom slowly walked towards the alley before Mike held out a hand to the Dark Pokémon signalling him to stay put. A memory flashed through Mike's mind of a blonde woman dressed all in black holding a hand out to a boy just like the one he was walking towards. The boy must've heard Mike's footsteps because he spun and stared at Mike with terror filled eyes, the Weedle on the boy's shoulders bristled ready to fight if needed. "It's okay." Mike said kneeling down to be at eye level with the boy, "I just want to help." Reaching into his pocket Mike brought out a few notes and a handful of coins. "Here, go and get yourself some real food." Mike added a small card to the money, "If you need anything, just call that number and someone will come to help you. Okay?" The boy nodded and Weedle used String Shot to snatch the money and card out of Mike's open hand. Grabbing the money once it was close enough the boy turned and ran down the alley until he was out of sight. Mike sighed to himself, stood up, brushed his pants off then turned and walked out of the alley. Houndoom rubbed his head against Mike's arm and was given a scratch behind the ears in return. "I know, I know." As he exited the alley Mike saw that Ash and May had been waiting for him, they gave him a slightly confused and questioning look. Mike just shrugged to them, "I hate seeing kids in that position." With that he started walking towards the Pokémon Centre again, the memory of the blonde woman still playing vividly in his mind.
Once they were back at the Pokémon Centre Mike went straight to his room simply saying he'd meet up with Ash and May for food later. Nodding in agreement, not knowing what to say to their friend's sudden change in mood, Ash and May decided to take a walk around Fuchsia City and explore a little. After shopping for a few hours and restocking their supplies Ash and May returned to the Pokémon Centre and let all their Pokémon out to have a little fun Bagon, Pikachu, Glaceon, Trapinch, Metang and Deerling played with a ball, Skorupi napped underneath a bench, Lucario and Krookodile stood to one side talking with Blaziken and Venusaur, Sunflora and Lilligant wandered around tending to any flowers they came across, Altaria was flying around in lazy circles leaving Litwick in May's arms and Sandslash getting used to his new body. After Ash had spent some time playing with Bagon like he'd promised he would he and May sat together under the shade of a tree, not talking just watching all their Pokémon relaxing. Litwick was dozing peacefully as May slowly passed her hand through the light blue flame on top of the Shiny Pokémon's head, something she'd found the Candle Pokémon liked.
"So," May said softly not to wake the sleeping Pokémon in her arms, "Where are we going next? You know, for your revisiting tour."
"Laramie Ranch, I want to get some tips for looking after Ponyta. Plus it'll be nice for her to be around other Ponyta like her." Ash smiled. "After that there's another old friend I want to drop in on."
"Who's that?"
"You'll have to wait and see, although it'll be like looking in a mirror."
"And what's that supposed to mean?"
"You'll have to wait and see." Ash teased, Over the next hour May tried a number of ways to try and get Ash to give her the answers she was after but wasn't able to. Ash and May recalled their Pokémon, Litwick, Glaceon, Pikachu and Lucario staying out of their balls and while May went to get a table for them to sit at, Ash went to let Mike know they were getting something to eat. A couple of minutes later Ash and Mike came into the cafeteria with Houndoom walking alongside his trainer. While Ash had gone to get Mike, Leaf had come back to the Pokémon Centre and was sat at the table talking with May, once they'd all gotten their food they sat down to eat. They ate in silence for a few minutes before Mike cleared his throat.
"I'm sorry about earlier, it's just something in my past I want to try and forget." Leaf was confused by the statement but a look and small gesture from May told her she'd find out later.
"That's alright, we've all got something like that." Ash replied. Mike gave him a small sad smile and went back to his food. They chatted lightly while they ate and afterwards trained together for a couple of hours until it was getting late. They decided to call it a day and get some rest, Ash, May and Leaf were still tired from their rush to get to Fuchsia after Janine's attack and Mike was still dealing with his resurfaced memories.
"I'm leaving for Celadon City early in the morning so I guess if I don't see you beforehand, I'll see you at the Pokémon League." Mike said holding his hand out, Ash smiled and shook it.
"Don't go loosing until we have our battle."
"Same goes for you." Mike smirked, May gave him a quick hug and Leaf just smiled at him. "See you around, night." Mike went into his room and closed the door behind him. Leaf walked to the room she was sharing with May and gave the couple a teasing look over her shoulder.
"I'll give you two lovebirds some private time but if May isn't in this room in five minutes I'm coming to find her. I don't want any funny business from you Mister Ketchum." Leaf giggled as May flushed red. The Pallet Town brunette went into her room. May turned to face Ash and smiled at him, waiting to see what he was going to say but was pleasantly surprised when he leant down slightly and gently kissed her lips. May's arms rose up and wrapped around his neck, deepening the kiss. After what seemed like a few seconds May was pulled away, still a little dazed from the kiss May turned with a dopey smile on her face and saw Leaf pulling her towards their room. "I told you I'd be back in five minutes now it's time to get some rest." It was then that Leaf noticed to look on May's face. "Damn Ash, what did you do to her?"
"I kissed her." He replied as he fumbled with his room key.
"Must've been a hell of a kiss, I think you broke her." A wicked grin crossed Leaf's lips. "I know just how to fix her though." Leaf pushed May into their room and knocked the door closed with her heel as she followed. Just as Ash was opening his door he heard May squeal and curse loudly at Leaf, the young Aura Guardian looked at Pikachu and Lucario both of whom shook their heads answering is unasked question.
"You're right, probably a good idea to leave them to sort it out themselves." Ash said going into his room and within a few minutes he'd gotten ready for bed and was fast asleep with Pikachu curled up alongside him and Lucario sleeping in a comfy armchair.
And that's the end, for now at least.
Hope you liked it, let me know what you thought in a review.
Until Next Time
Basic Trainer