The Journey Continues
The time has finally come for Ash's long waiting third Kanto gym battle. Standing in his way from earning his third Kanto gym badge is a battle against the Saffron Gym Leader Sabrina. Two chapters ago, Ash witnessed Sabrina battling a trainer named Amanda and winning with her Mega Alakazam. Last chapter, Ash did some serious training with Preston, Sabrina's apprentice. But will all that training pay off?
Only one way to find out. Hope you have a good read.
15
"Introducing Lady Sabrina!" Preston announced.
When the curtains opened, Sabrina took her place on the battlefield. It wasn't a surprise the other side of the bleachers erupted with hand clapping and cheering. Of course, every single one of her students was going to be rooting for her victory. But at least Ash could count of the support from his Pokémon, Serena, and her Pokémon. That was all the support he needed. Either way, Ash was only focusing on winning and claiming his third Kanto gym badge.
"The gym battle between Ash the challenger and Sabrina the gym leader will now go underway. This match will be a simple one-on-one battle. The battle will be over when the Pokémon on either side is unable to continue," Preston explained. Ash and Sabrina nodded to the rules of the gym battle. Once the rules were explained, it was time for both opponents to send out their Pokémon.
"Oh good. The battle hasn't started yet."
"Amanda? What are you doing here?" Serena asked.
"I wanted to see this battle myself," Amanda responded, taking a seat beside the performer. "Perhaps your boyfriend will give me some ideas for my rematch against Sabrina."
"H-He's not my boyfriend," Serena denied while her face was turning their usual red color again. "But I'm not worried. Ash will do just fine." She then turned to Eevee. "Eevee, let's cheer for Ash together, okay?"
Eevee responded by jumping on up and down on Serena's lap.
Back on the battlefield, a small conversation between the challenger and the gym leader were taking place. "So, Ash, Preston told me you did some serious training the other day."
"You bet and I'm going to win and get my third Kanto gym battle," Ash responded to Sabrina's statement.
"I look forward to our match, but it's not going to be easy," she informed her challenger, tossing out her Poke ball. "Alakazam, let's go!"
"Gengar, I choose you!" Each of the Pokémon stood on opposite sides on the battlefield. But being the mischievous Pokémon that it is, Gengar stuck its tongue out at Alakazam. "Stop fooling around, Gengar. We got a gym battle," Ash reminded.
"Ash, as the challenger, the first move is yours," Preston informed. "Alright! Battle, begin!"
"Kay, Gengar. Let's win today! Use Will-O-Wisp!"
Following Ash's command, Gengar's body became outlined with orange energy. Gengar clapped its hands to form a ring of light purple and pink fireballs before launching them toward Alakazam.
"Use Future Sight!" Sabrina ordered with a snap of her finger.
Alakazam opened its arms out and a wormhole appeared in front of it, absorbing all eight of Gengar's fireballs before it closed and disappeared.
"There it is. Future Sight," Serena noted.
"We'll make a hit before Future Sight takes effect. All right, Gengar, use Shadow Ball." Ash commanded.
Gengar opened its mouth to form a ball of black and purple with black static before firing at Alakazam. However, Alakazam's entire body started glowing light blue before dodging the Shadow Ball thanks to its psychic ability. Alakazam started flying in the air and Gengar followed. Alakazam and Gengar started their little flying battle, taking turns flying at one's direction before dodging.
Back on the ground, Pikachu was rooting for his teammate. As for Ash, he felt something click in his head. Even though the gym battle just begun, something about the battle seemed familiar to him. Ash had a theory in mind, but he wanted to first confirm his suspicions. "I see what she's doing," he thought out loud.
"So, what will you do now?" Sabrina asked her opponent.
"Gengar," he called out, grabbing the Ghost Pokémon's attention. "Listen up. I want you to keep a close eye on Alakazam's movement."
Gengar understood the assignment and stopped hovering midair. He watched closely while his Psychic opponent was flying around him in a circle.
"Use Ice Punch!" Ash commanded.
Gengar flew over to Alakazam with its right fist surrounded with an icy blue energy.
"Teleport."
Following Sabrina's command, Alakazam's body glowed multicolored before disappearing in the blink of an eye. Alakazam dodged Gengar's Ice Punch and teleported back onto the battlefield.
"Now use Psybeam and follow it up using Psychic," the gym leader ordered.
Alakazam crossed both of its spoons and released a multicolored beam at Gengar. "Dodge it, Gengar," Ash ordered.
Gengar flew downward to avoid the attack. However, Alakazam's eyes flashed blue as the beam were surrounded by a blue aura. They followed Gengar and made a direct hit. Ash and Pikachu's jaws dropped, and their eyes widened. "You alright, Gengar?" Gengar responded by rising back from its feet. "She used Psychic to control Psybeam anywhere she pleases."
"Just like when we battled," Amanda confirmed.
"Ha! Of course, she did!" Tyron responded, earning him nods from the rest of his classmates.
Ash measured Sabrina and her Alakazam, measuring their movements to anticipate their next attack. He needed to think of something because it won't be long before Future Sight activated. "Trying to predict my next move? You won't!" The gym leader huffed. "Alright, Alakazam. Use Psybeam again!"
Alakazam crossed its spoons again and fired another multicolored beam at Gengar. "Jump up and use Ice Punch!" Ash ordered.
Gengar leaped to the air as instructed, avoiding the beam. Its right fist became surrounded with an icy blue energy. As Gengar was flying over to Alakazam, Ash noticed a smirk appearing on Sabrina's face.
"Use Psychic," Sabrina calmly ordered. Alakazam's eyes flashed light blue, and Gengar was outlined in the same color energy. Gengar tried to gain control of its own body, but it was meaningless. The Ghost-type Pokémon was fully under Alakazam's control. "Perfect timing," Sabrina said.
"Huh?"
"Do it, Alakazam!"
Gengar was thrown across the room where four wormholes suddenly appeared. They surrounded and discharged four fireballs at the Ghost-type Pokémon. "Gengar! Are you alright?" Ash shouted.
Gengar emerged from the small cloud of smoke but covered with bruises. Though Gengar appeared to be able to continue battling…and that was exactly Sabrina was expected.
"Gengar is strong to withstand that, but this battle has only begun," she warned, ripping off her necklace and tossing it in the air. The Key Stone landed on top of Sabrina's head just before she activated it. "Alakazam, MEGA EVOLVE!"
Alakazam was surrounded by multiple beams of lights before reappearing in its mega evolved form. Mega Alakazam was hovering in space and its two spoons multiply into five with Sabrina was hovering alongside it.
"There it is: Mega Alakazam!" Ash voiced out. The Shadow Pokémon turned to Ash, expecting for a command any moment. "We won't let that stop us. Right, Gengar?"
The Shadow Pokémon exchanged nods with its trainer, waiting for a command. "Ash, give it your best!" Serena cheered with Eevee bouncing on her lap.
"Gengar, use Night Shade!" Ash ordered. Gengar fired a dark crimson beam from both its eyes at Mega Alakazam.
"Future Sight!" Sabrina ordered. However, Mega Alakazam opened a wormhole from its hands and absorbed the beams before disappearing. "Did you forget about Future Sight? Alakazam, Psybeam."
"Gengar, use Will-O-Wisp again!"
Mega Alakazam fired a pink beam of energy from between its hands at Gengar. However, Gengar clapped its hands and launched another series of purple and pink fireballs to counter. Both attacks canceled one another out in a cloud of smoke. "Use Ice Punch!"
Gengar flew out of the smoke with its right fist surrounded in icy blue energy. "Fire your spoons."
Following Sabrina's command, Mega Alakazam fired all five of its spoons at Gengar. However, Gengar ice punched all five spoons with no problem. That was until Ash spotted Mega Alakazam suddenly teleported behind Gengar. "Oh no! Gengar, behind you!" Ash warned.
"Too slow," Sabrina fired. "Tri Attack!"
Mega Alakazam formed three different colored orbs of energy. One orb was yellow with electricity, the second orb was light blue with ice, and the final orb was orange with fire. Mega Alakazam fired all three orbs at Gengar. Gengar was knocked down by all three of the orbs and fell back onto the ground. "Are you alright, Gengar?"
Despite the attack, Gengar was still able to get back on its feet. "So, you weren't about to get pass Tri Attack? Color me disappointed, Ash."
Ash's fingers were digging in the skin of his palms.
"Kay, Gengar, use Ice Punch again," Ash ordered. But just when Gengar was about to make a move, the Ghost-type Pokémon yelled feeling its body was suddenly covered in flames. "AHH! Gengar!" Ash shouted alongside Pikachu.
"It got burned by that Tri Attack," Amanda pointed.
"Psychic!"
Mega Alakazam's eyes flash blue along with its entire body and the five spoons. The five spoons fired blue shockwaves at Gengar, causing it unable to remove its body. Gengar suddenly find itself getting dragged to the ceiling before being slammed back on the battlefield. Mega Alakazam continued slamming Gengar from the ceiling and back down. "Gengar, hang in there!" Ash rooted for.
"This doesn't refresh your memory, Ash?" Sabrina asked. "Think back to our first gym battle where you forfeit. Do you want to yield again this time?" She taunted her opponent.
Ash clenched his fists once again. His nails were digging deeper into the skin. A drop of sweat was running down the left side of his face. Meanwhile, he saw Gengar somehow find the strength to stand up on its feet although it was still trying to fight off the Psychic. Ash knew he had to come up with something and fast. "We're not giving up! Now use Psychic against Psychic!"
"Say what?" Sabrina responded to Ash's ridiculous command.
Following Ash's orders, Gengar outlined its entire body with a light purple aura to counter Mega Alakazam's blue aura. After a few seconds, Gengar opened its eyes that were light purple as both Psychic attacks canceled each other out. Almost the entire room had their jaws touching the ground. There was a brief silence that echoed in the room for a quick second. From Sabrina to Preston, Amanda and all the students watching the battle. The only exception beside Ash was Serena. Instead, she was smiling while clapping her hands together.
Eevee was jumping up and down on her lap, cheering for its trainer and Gengar. Speaking of Gengar, it was snickering and stuck its tongue out to Mega Alakazam. It was free completely from its opponent's control. "Way to go, Gengar! I knew you could do it!" Ash shouted.
"It countered Alakazam's Psychic…with its own Psychic?" Sabrina mouthed to herself. After which, she slapped both her cheeks. Her puzzled demeanor disappeared, and her eyes were locked back on the battle. "Regardless, this battle is still not over. Use Psybeam!"
"Use Night Shade!"
Mega Alakazam released another round of multicolored streams toward Gengar. But Genger countered by launching two dark crimson beams from its eyes. Both attacks exploded upon contact one another, leaving the area in a cloud of smoke. However, the crimson beams popped out from the smoke cloud and made direct contact with the mega evolved Pokémon. "Alakazam!" Sabrina cried out. "We won't take that lying down. Now, use Tri Attack again! Alakazam?"
Mega Alakazam wasn't moving. Its body was suddenly surrounded by a circle of dark energy. "Alakazam, what's the matter?"
"That's Gengar's special ability: Cursed Body," Amanda replied. "When Gengar hits an opponent with a direct attack, that Pokémon is unable to move for a while."
"Perfect timing," Ash voiced when four wormholes suddenly appeared, each one firing a dark crimson beam towards Gengar. "Use Psychic now!"
Gengar's eyes turned light purple again except it outlined each beam. With its Night Shade under its control, Gengar fired them right at the paralyzed Mega Evolved Alakazam. Unfortunately for Mega Alakazam, it was unable to move its body because of Cursed Body. "Let's wrap this up, Gengar, and use Shadow Ball!" Ash ordered.
Ash Gengar created one ball of black energy in each hand, he combined them into one giant ball and threw it at the disabled mega Pokémon. Mega Alakazam was covered in a thick cloud of black smoke while Sabrina called out to it. Something fell from the sky and onto the battlefield. Once the dust had settled, it was none other than Alakazam after reverting to its original form and incapacitated.
"Alakazam is unable to battle, therefore the winner of this battle goes to Ash the challenger," Preston declared, drawing the gym battle to a conclusion.
"Alright!" Ash cheered while throwing a fist in the air. The victor was tackled on the ground by Gengar. "You were so awesome, Gengar. Thanks so much for your help."
"Ash!" Serena rushed to Ash's side carrying Eevee in her hands. "Congratulations. You and Gengar were amazing."
Thanks, Serena," Ash chuckled. Of course, Eevee wanted in on the celebration. It jumped out of Serena's arms and right on Ash's shoulder. "You were cheering for us too, Eevee?"
Amanda walked over to Ash. "All my years as a Pokémon Trainer, I'd never seen anybody thought of canceling a Psychic attack with another Psychic attack." Ash chuckled while scratching the back of his head. "I've got to watch out for you at the Kanto League."
"Ahh! Amanda, you're competing at the Kanto League?"
"Well, why else am I challenging this gym?" To further confirm, Amanda showed the male trainer her badge case.
"You won four badges?"
"Uh-Huh. How many badges you have now?"
"Counting today? Well...three."
"Only three? Geez, Ash, you've got some catching up to do. But the way you're battled, I'm sure I will see you at the league in a couple of months. I want all my rivals to be strong, so me and my team can have the pleasure of showing them I'm the strongest. Later."
After that, Amanda helped herself to the nearest exit. Suddenly, Ash spotted Tyson and all his classmates standing in front of him. Ash didn't know what to expect from them. For all he knew, they might be upset Sabrina was defeated and perhaps wanted to avenge her.
Tyson took a few steps forward before bowing down. "Ash, I'm sorry for my behavior the other day," he said. The rest of the students followed Tyson's lead and bowed their heads to the Pallet Town trainer. "You really are an amazing trainer worthy to battle Lady Sabrina. We're sorry for the way we treated you."
Tyson concluded with an offer of a handshake, which Ash happily accepted. "Wow. Thanks, you guys."
"You battled graciously, Alakazam. Now, take a nice long rest," Sabrina returning her defeated partner back in its Poke ball. She and Preston were the last few people to walk up to the victor. The latter was holding a tray that was carrying something small, yellow, and round. "Ash, that was an amazing battle. I haven't battled like that for a good while."
"It was really fun for us too. Right, Gengar?" Gengar chuckled in responded. Sabrina's Gengar hovered over to Ash's Gengar and proceeded to lick it. In response, Ash's Gengar just stuck its tongue out. Both Gengar just smiled and laughed at one another, and their trainers joined in on the fun.
Meanwhile, Preston walked up to Ash with the tray still in his hands. "Well, congratulations. Here's proof of your victory here at the Saffron City Gym: the Marsh Badge," the gym leader stated.
"Thanks a lot, Sabrina," Ash thanked while reaching for his third badge. "Yes! I JUST GOT…THE MARSH BADGE!"
With Ash securing his third Kanto gym badge, everyone regrouped outside in front of the gym. "So, Ash, I'm assuming you'll be heading for your fourth gym. In that case, how about challenging the gym in Vermillion City?" Sabrina recommended.
"The Vermillion City Gym? Sounds great to me," Ash agreed. "We can also visit Professor Cerise while we're there." Pikachu agreed to that suggestion. Ash turned his attention to Eevee. "Eevee, your first gym battle will be at Vermillion City. Let's train together, okay?"
Eevee's feet left the ground in a blur while a joyous bark had left its mouth. Serena giggled seeing the Evolution Pokémon energetic and filled with life. "Serena, that reminds me: you mentioned the other day that you're a coordinator, right? In that case, how about registering for the Pokémon Contest taking place here tomorrow?"
"A Pokémon Contest? Here?"
"That's a great idea." Placing a hand over Serena's shoulder, Ash second Preston's recommendation. "What do you say, Serena? I know that you'll be amazing. You should go for it, and I'll be cheering for you all the way."
Pikachu and Eevee also agree with the idea. Seeing the support were enough to bring a smile to Serena's face along with a few red marks across her cheeks. "Sure, and I'll give it everything I've got!"
– BONUS –
Later that day, Eevee and Grookey were the first ones to walk outside. Even when their trainers were still inside the airport, that didn't stop the two energetic Pokémon from their sightseeing. It wasn't until their trainers walked out the airport while calling out to them.
"Eevee!" Upon hearing her name, Eevee jumped into her trainer's arms. "I thought I told you to not wonder off on your own," she scolded the Evolution Pokémon.
Upon seeing its trainer, Grookey climbed on top of his head. "Seriously, Grookey. You've got to stop running off like that," the male trainer confronted the Chimp Pokémon. After which, he turned his attention over to his friend. "So, Chloe, are you all ready for the Saffron Contest tomorrow?"
"I believe so. Although, I'll only be lying if I said that I wasn't nervous," Chloe answered. "But I've got my Pokémon with me by my side and you cheering me, Goh. Thanks for coming out to support me, Goh."
"Don't sweat it, Chloe. It's only natural that I support my childhood friend."
Chloe's cheeks warmed, a faint pink blooming across her face. Goh's words resonated with her in a way that chased away the lingering doubts plaguing her. Chloe and Goh felt their hair dancing through the soft wind blowing in between them. Brushing the strings of hair from her face, Chloe turned to the blue sky with a smile on her face.
"Chloe!" Goh called out, bringing the female trainer from drifting away in the clouds. "Come on. We need to stop at the Pokémon Center, so you can register for the Pokémon Contest."
"I'm coming," Chloe fired back, still holding Eevee in her arms. "Let's go, Eevee."
And there you have it. It took me way longer than I anticipated, but Ash secured his victory against Sabrina. Now, the next stop is Vermillion City against Lt. Surge and his army of Electric-type Pokémon. Eevee will also make his gym battle debut. But first Serena sets her sites on the upcoming Saffron Pokémon Contest. In addition, Goh and Chloe have been added to the mix. I wonder how that will turn out for everyone.
Truly sorry for a long and overdue delays. My life has changed a whole lot the past two years. I'm not about to go into full details, but I do want to say that my days as a fanfic writer are coming to a closed. But I have some unfinished business to take care of like tying up loose ends with these fanfics. A good friend of mine from college is starting his own production company and he's offering to help me out with this trilogy. Until next time…
…Stay Safe (especially with everything going on in the world) and Stay Tuned.