Chapter 1069: Yuga vs. Ash & Gary

May performed exceptionally well in the Verdanturf Town Contest, outshining Drew, who also participated, and ultimately earning the Ribbon Badge. To celebrate May's achievement, Yuga had his Audino showcase its best culinary skills, preparing a victory feast for her. For the food-loving May, this was the ultimate reward.

However, calling it a "feast" might be an exaggeration; it was more of a small party.

Since Ash and the others felt that the party wasn't lively enough with just a few people, Yuga invited both Drew and Gary to join. When Gary arrived, the sisters, Ruri and Amber, came along as well.

Yuga had saved the investigation team, so Ruri and Amber were endlessly grateful to him, making Yuga feel a bit embarrassed.

Yuga didn't reveal the truth behind the sudden sleepiness in Petalburg Woods, as Darkrai's presence needed to be kept secret to avoid anyone with ill intentions from targeting it.

Nonetheless, Yuga and the rangers reported Darkrai's settlement in Petalburg Woods to the League, ensuring that it would be protected and its location kept secret to prevent unnecessary disturbances.

After the party, Yuga found Ash and informed him that he had to go on a business trip, with an uncertain return date, and asked if they could move up their Gym battle to the next day. Ash agreed without hesitation.

Gary, overhearing Yuga's conversation with Ash, immediately voiced his displeasure. He confronted Yuga, saying, "What about our battle? When will that happen?"

Seeing Gary causing trouble, Ash immediately glared at him.

"This is an official Gym battle, it's important. Your battle can wait until Mr. Shimizu has time," Ash retorted.

Gary stubbornly replied, "Why should it? I arranged my battle with Mr. Shimizu first. How can you cut in line and say something like that?"

Ash glared back, "It doesn't matter who came first. What matters is whose battle is more important!"

Gary countered, "Are you kidding? Do you think you're better than me?"

…

And so, the two began arguing.

It's undeniable that these two are natural rivals. Ever since Gary returned from Petalburg Woods, they argued every time they met. Usually composed and mature, Gary reverted to childishness whenever Ash was involved.

Yuga, growing tired of their bickering, finally suggested, "How about this? You two can battle me together in a double battle."

Hearing this, both Ash and Gary said in unison, "A double battle with Gary (Ash)?"

Yuga nodded, "If you don't want to, that's fine. But you'll have to sort out who battles me first tomorrow."

Ash and Gary exchanged a glance, then begrudgingly agreed, "Fine, let's do it."

Gary, with a superior air, added, "But Ash, you better not hold me back! If you do, I won't let you off easily!"

"What? Me hold you back? Don't forget who got thrashed at the Silver Conference!" Ash shot back, eyebrows raised in defiance.

Gary's face darkened as Ash brought up the Silver Conference. "Don't flatter yourself. Don't forget, we only tied in our battle before coming to Hoenn."

Yuga, surprised, thought to himself: In the original story, Ash always lost to Gary after the Silver Conference. But now it's a tie? It seems Ash has indeed grown stronger.

"Alright, alright. Since it's decided, stop arguing over the small stuff," Yuga interjected, trying to calm them down. Then he asked Ash, "Are you sure you want to partner with Gary in a double battle? If you lose, I won't give you the Forest Badge just because you did better."

Ash considered it for a moment and then said firmly, "Don't worry, Mr. Shimizu! We'll definitely win. Just wait and see." Despite his words of disdain, Ash respected Gary's strength.

Yuga smiled knowingly, "Well, I'll be watching closely. But remember, doubles are all about teamwork. Make sure you plan well, or you'll end up fighting each other."

The next morning, Ash and Gary were already waiting at the Gym when Yuga arrived. Seeing them there so early, Yuga teased, "Looks like you two are closer than I thought."

"Hmph!"

"Hmph!"

The two glared at each other but didn't respond to Yuga's comment.

Seeing their silence, Yuga chuckled and said, "Since everyone's here, let's start the match." He signaled with a glance at Brandon, who nodded and took his place as the referee, beginning to announce the battle rules.

The match would be Yuga versus Ash and Gary. Each side could have two Pokémon on the field at a time. Yuga could use six Pokémon total, while Ash and Gary could each use three. When a Pokémon fainted, the next one could be sent out immediately. The side whose Pokémon all fainted first would lose.

"Both sides ready? Begin!"

With Brandon's command, the three trainers released their Pokémon simultaneously.

Yuga sent out his Vileplume and Lurantis, Gary sent out his Nidoqueen, and Ash sent out his Heracross.

Seeing Ash's Heracross, Yuga remarked in surprise, "Ash, this Heracross?"

Ash scratched his head and replied, "After hearing what you said before, I realized you were right. I can't just focus on training new Pokémon, so I brought some old friends from home."

"Heracross!"

Heracross waved happily at Ash, clearly in a good mood.

Yuga nodded and said, "In that case, let's get started!"

"Heracross, use Megahorn!"

"Nidoqueen, use Sludge Bomb!"

As Yuga finished speaking, Ash and Gary launched a preemptive strike.

Seeing the charging Heracross and the incoming Sludge Bomb, Yuga remained calm and instructed, "Vileplume, Sunny Day! Lurantis, X-Scissor!"

Vileplume retreated behind Lurantis and tossed a bright weather ball into the sky, instantly changing the cool morning temperature.

Lurantis dashed forward, using its scythe-like arms to shred Nidoqueen's Sludge Bomb before clashing with Heracross' horn.

In terms of sheer strength, Lurantis couldn't match the powerhouse Heracross and was pushed back a bit. But as the weather changed, Lurantis seemed invigorated, lifting its other scythe and slashing Heracross away with a Leaf Blade.

Lurantis is a Pokémon that thrives in sunlight. While its stats don't increase under Sunny Day, its fighting spirit does. Additionally, with its Leaf Guard ability, Lurantis wouldn't be poisoned by Nidoqueen's toxic attacks under the bright sun.

"Rarrr!"

Lurantis raised its arms toward the sun, forming a massive golden blade in its hands.

Solar Blade is Lurantis' signature move, and with the boost from Sunny Day, it required no charging time, allowing Lurantis to wield it effortlessly.

Boom!

The golden blade slashed down toward Heracross, who barely dodged it. But Lurantis wasn't finished; another golden blade appeared in its hands.

Boom, boom, boom!

Blade after blade rained down on Heracross, forcing it to roll and dodge, looking quite beleaguered.

Ash's Heracross was of a higher caliber, but Yuga's Lurantis had been in the sanctuary for a while and regularly participated in Gym battles, making it slightly stronger than the Heracross.

Seeing Heracross struggling, Gary's Nidoqueen tried to assist by launching more Sludge Bombs, but Yuga's Vileplume fired back with a Solar Beam, repelling the attack.

Under Sunny Day, Solar Beam also required no charging time.

Despite being the weakest on the field, Vileplume's Solar Beam was incredibly powerful under Sunny Day, keeping Gary's Nidoqueen at bay.

Seeing Heracross on the verge of defeat, Ash urgently commanded, "Heracross, use Close Combat!"

"Heracross!"

Heracross' aura surged as it closed in on Lurantis, landing a punch that was blocked by Lurantis' broad scythe. Heracross then grabbed Lurantis and performed an overhead throw, slamming Lurantis into the ground.

As Heracross moved to deliver a final stomp on Lurantis' chest, Lurantis quickly slashed out with a golden blade, striking Heracross and sending it flying.

Close Combat is powerful, but it lowers the user's defenses. After taking a hit from the Solar Blade, Heracross was knocked out and didn't get back up.

Seeing Heracross down, Gary instinctively wanted to taunt Ash, but remembering they were in a double battle, he swallowed his words.

Without missing a beat, Ash sent out his next Pokémon, a Noctowl.

By this time, Yuga's Lurantis had managed to stand back up, panting heavily from the damage taken in the Close Combat.

Seeing Ash's shiny Noctowl, Yuga smiled and said, "You two need to work on your teamwork. Lurantis, continue with Solar Blade!"

"Lurantis!"

Lurantis let out a spirited cry as an even larger golden blade formed above its head, which it brought down with full force.

Ash's Noctowl dodged nimbly, but Lurantis' true target wasn't Noctowl—it was Nidoqueen.

Nidoqueen tried to evade but was too slow and had to cross its arms to use Fire Punch in defense.

But Solar Blade was too powerful, shattering the ground beneath Nidoqueen and leaving its arms numb.

Meanwhile, Ash's Noctowl had quietly circled around and used Psychic to knock Vileplume to the ground. As Sunny Day's effect ended, Noctowl followed up with an Air Slash, finishing Vileplume off.

Unlike Lurantis, which was experienced in Gym battles, this was Vileplume's first time participating, meant to support Lurantis. Lurantis attempted to launch another Solar Blade at Nidoqueen, but without the boost from Sunny Day, it misfired, and Nidoqueen took the opportunity to strike back with Megahorn, sending Lurantis flying.

Already weakened by Heracross' Close Combat, Lurantis was taken down by Nidoqueen's Megahorn.

With Yuga having lost two Pokémon in a row, Ash and Gary shared a brief, satisfied glance, finally finding a bit of synergy in their teamwork.

"Not bad, not bad, you're getting the hang of it!" Yuga praised the two as he took out two more Poké Balls. "But the real challenge lies ahead!"

Yuga's second and third Pokémon were Vaporeon and Jolteon.

In Yuga's Pokémon Ecology Park, the strongest members of the Eevee family are Jolteon and Umbreon, followed by Vaporeon. These three are the leaders of the Eevee family. This time, Yuga sent out two of them at once, significantly increasing the difficulty level of the battle.

Seeing Yuga's Jolteon and Vaporeon, Ash exclaimed in surprise, "Huh? Aren't they supposed to be Grass-type Pokémon?" Before coming to Venderturf Town, he had done his homework and knew that the Venderturf Gym was a Grass-type gym.

Yuga raised an eyebrow and looked at Ash, saying, "If they were all Grass-types, wouldn't that be boring? It's more fun with some surprises, and more challenging, don't you think?"

Ash, hearing this, was immediately filled with fighting spirit. "I love challenges! Bring it on!"

Seeing Ash so excited, Gary silently rolled his eyes, thinking to himself: This idiot. Jolteon and Vaporeon, sent out by the Venderturf Gym Leader, are visibly much stronger than the previous Lurantis and Vileplume. Only an idiot like Ash can still be so carefree. If he doesn't get the badge, let's see what he does then! Thinking this, Gary looked towards the battlefield at Jolteon and Vaporeon.

Vaporeon sat leisurely on the ground, its long tail gently swaying as the moisture in the air slowly gathered towards it; Jolteon, in contrast, was already in battle stance as soon as it appeared, its golden fur standing on end with occasional sparks of electricity crackling through it.

This won't be easy! Gary thought with a frown.

"Let the battle continue!"

Beidou's voice rang out, signaling the start of the fight!

"Nidoking, Sludge Bomb!"

"Noctowl, Air Slash!"

As Ash and Gary's voices fell, a transparent blade of air was launched from Noctowl, and Nidoking spewed out globules of purple sludge, both aiming directly at Jolteon and Vaporeon.

However, unlike the previous Vileplume and Lurantis, Jolteon and Vaporeon were incredibly fast, disappearing from their positions in the blink of an eye.

As Vaporeon ran, it hurled a blue orb of water into the sky. Soon, dark clouds began to gather overhead, and before long, raindrops started to fall.

"Jolteon, Thunder! Vaporeon, Hydro Pump!"

Yuga's calm voice echoed in Ash and Gary's ears. The next moment, they saw golden lightning streak across the sky and a blue water jet shatter the air.

"Grugh!!"

"Roar!!!"

Two cries of pain echoed as Nidoking was blasted away by the water jet, and Noctowl was struck down by the lightning.

Instant K.O.!

"This is going to be tough!"

Seeing their Nidoking and Noctowl get instantly knocked out, Gary's brows furrowed tightly, and even the usually carefree Ash was momentarily stunned.

Seeing the two of them looking so troubled, Yuga smiled and said, "I told you, the real challenge lies ahead! Especially you, Ash. You've trained with me for a while, so if you don't show some real skills, I won't be giving you that badge easily."

Hearing Yuga's words, Gary glanced at Ash in surprise. Ash trained with the Venderturf Gym Leader?

"I understand, I'll give it my all!" Ash said seriously, then took out another Poké Ball. Seeing this, Gary also took out his next Poké Ball.

Two beams of red light flashed, and two new Pokémon appeared on the field: Snorlax and Umbreon.

Snorlax

Type: Normal

Ability: Thick Fat

Gender: Male

Potential: Indigo

Level: 60

Moves: Tackle, Defense Curl, Amnesia, Body Slam, Rest, Snore, Sleep Talk, Hyper Beam, Rollout, Belly Drum, High Horsepower, Brick Break, Focus Punch, Surf, Ice Punch, Giga Impact, Double-Edge.

Umbreon

Type: Dark

Ability: Synchronize

Gender: Male

Potential: Indigo

Level: 59

Moves: Pursuit, Helping Hand, Quick Attack, Confuse Ray, Foul Play, Moonlight, Stored Power, Guard Swap, Protect, Psychic, Shadow Ball, Snarl, Dark Pulse, Wish, Iron Tail, Screech, Taunt, Iron Tail.

After reviewing the stats of Ash and Gary's Pokémon, Yuga was slightly surprised. He hadn't expected that both their Snorlax and Umbreon would have blue potential.

Given that Gary is Professor Oak's grandson, it's not surprising that his Umbreon has blue potential, but Snorlax… wasn't it caught by Ash by chance in the Orange Islands.

It seems that Snorlax had once eaten all the fruit from someone's orchard and was then discarded, which is how Ash ended up capturing it. I didn't expect it to also have blue potential—talk about luck.

No wonder Snorlax has been able to stay with Ash all the way to the end.

Yuga was also surprised by the levels of the two Pokémon. Umbreon was just a step away from being a pseudo-Elite level Pokémon, while Snorlax was almost at that level.

The Pokémon on both sides were now evenly matched in level, but in terms of potential, the opponents had the edge. (Snorlax's level is the same as Jolteon's, and Umbreon's level is the same as Vaporeon's.)

"Snorlax, you've got to keep it up!" Ash shouted, cheering on Snorlax.

"Snorlax!" Snorlax responded to Ash with a sleepy-eyed, clumsy look.

"Umbreon, we can't lose either!" Gary, mimicking Ash, urged Umbreon.

"Umbreon.." In contrast to Snorlax, Umbreon maintained a much cooler demeanor.

Seeing the two were ready, Yuga said, "Then I'll start the attack! Vaporeon, Hydro Pump! Jolteon, Thunder!"

At the same time, Gary and Ash gave instructions to Umbreon and Snorlax.

"Umbreon, move quickly!"

"Snorlax, Amnesia!"

Hydro Pump shots from Vaporeon were fired, but Umbreon's speed was so great that all the attacks missed; Jolteon's Thunder hit Snorlax but was deflected.

"Umbreon, Wish!"

"Snorlax, keep using Amnesia!"

The attacks from Vaporeon and Jolteon continued as Gary and Ash directed their Pokémon. After a period of coordination, their teamwork became increasingly seamless.

Ash's Snorlax's defensive capabilities amazed Yuga. Each Thunder attack was deflected, and any remaining damage was completely healed by Umbreon's Wish.

Snorlax's special defense was already high, and Ash's Snorlax seemed to be exceptionally gifted. With the boost from Amnesia, Snorlax was practically a disaster for Vaporeon and Jolteon, which specialized in special attacks.

Realizing the opponent's strength, Gary stopped being impulsive and fully focused on guiding Umbreon to protect itself while supporting Snorlax.

After some time, Snorlax's special defense finally reached its limit. Ash and Gary's voices rang out simultaneously.

"Umbreon, use Help on Snorlax!"

"Snorlax, Giga Impact!"

Umbreon's body glowed momentarily before it patted Snorlax. Snorlax then charged forward like a battering ram, targeting Vaporeon.

Vaporeon tried to dodge, but a flash of purple light in Umbreon's eyes activated Psychic, causing Vaporeon's movements to momentarily freeze, allowing Snorlax's Giga Impact to hit precisely.

Vaporeon cried out in pain and lost its ability to fight.

Seeing Vaporeon being attacked, Jolteon unleashed Thunder on Snorlax and Umbreon. The two Pokémon with incredibly strong defenses endured the hit without issue.

After Vaporeon fell, Yuga immediately released his next Pokémon: Decidueye.

As Yuga's main force, Decidueye was at a similar level to Vaporeon but was considerably stronger.

As soon as it appeared, Decidueye drew its bow and used its Spirit Shackle move. Umbreon tried to dodge but couldn't avoid Decidueye's arrows. The Shadow Arrows pinned Umbreon's shadow, immobilizing it.

Meanwhile, with Vaporeon gone, the rain gradually stopped, causing Jolteon's Thunder to lose accuracy. In its panic, Snorlax, now recovered from Giga Impact, seized the opportunity and used Body Slam, causing Jolteon to be knocked out.

It must be said that Snorlax with Amnesia was truly a "special attacker killer."

Without Jolteon, Yuga's final Pokémon was Abomasnow, his second main Pokémon. It was at pseudo-Elite level, slightly higher than Snorlax but with lesser potential.

Abomasnow immediately started with Ice Punch, attacking Snorlax, who responded with Brick Break.

Bang!

A shockwave rolled out, and Snorlax was actually pushed back several steps.

"That's huge!"

"That's huge!"

Seeing Abomasnow, both Ash and Gary exclaimed in surprise. Even Snorlax, with its massive size, was dwarfed compared to Abomasnow.

Thus, the two massive Pokémon exchanged blows.

On the other side, Umbreon, immobilized by Decidueye's Spirit Shackle, used Dark Pulse to counterattack, but Decidueye, with its flying advantage, skillfully avoided the attack and fired another Shadow Arrow.

This is the first time such an extensive battle has been described. Ash and Gary truly made quite an impact.

(End of Chapter)